Fur farming
From Freepedia
Fur farming is the agricultural practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.
The animal most commonly farmed for its fur is the mink. As of 2003, the country with the largest fur farming industry was Denmark, with 35% of world production.
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History
The first fur farms in North America appeared in the 1860s.
Historically, the fur trade played an important economic role in the United States. Fur trappers explored and opened up large parts of North America, and the fashion for beaver hats led to intense competition for supplies of raw materials. Starting in the latter half of the 20th century, producers and wearers of fur have been criticized by some because of the belief that animal trapping and fur farms are cruel, and that the killing of animals for clothing (or fur trimmed accessories) is made unnecessary by modern natural and synthetic fibers. Others disagree with this latter notion, stating that synthetic materials are not comparable to natural fur, which still remains a popular item.
Today, eighty-five percent of the fur industry’s skins come from animals living captive on fur factory farms. These farms can hold thousands of animals, and the practices used to farm them are remarkably uniform around the globe.
The most farmed fur-bearing animal is the mink, followed by the fox. Chinchillas, lynxes, and even hamsters are also farmed for their fur. Sixty-four percent of fur farms are in Northern Europe, 11 percent are in North America, and the rest are dispersed throughout the world, in countries such as Argentina and Russia.
Controversy
Various commentators, including scientists, animal rights activists, and philosophers oppose what they consider to be the cruel nature in which fur-bearing animals are farmed and killed.
After the initial success of "anti-fur" campaigns, in recent times the popularity of fur clothing appears to be increasing again around the world. This growing demand has led to the development of extensive fur farming operations in countries such as China, where activist groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have raised concerns about the inhumane treatment of animals and the nature of slaughterhouse practices.
Animal-cruelty claims
Opponents of fur farming state that, as with other intensive-confinement animal farms, the methods used on fur factory farms are designed to maximize profits.
To cut costs, many fur farmers pack animals into small cages, preventing them from taking more than a few steps back and forth. This crowding and confinement is considered by some to be distressing to minks—solitary animals who may occupy as much as 2,500 acres (10 km²) of wetland habitat in the wild. Life in a cage leads minks to self-mutilate—biting at their skin, tails, and feet—and frantically pace and circle endlessly. Zoologists at Oxford University who studied captive minks found that, despite generations of being bred for fur, minks have not been domesticated and suffer greatly in captivity, especially if they are not given the opportunity to swim. Foxes, raccoons, and other animals suffer equally and have been found to cannibalize each other as a reaction to their crowded confinement.
The methods used for killing the animals vary widely as well, the most common methods (defined as humane) are clubbing, followed by shooting, electrocution (One electrode is attached to the inside of the mouth, the other is inserted into the anus. A car battery provides sufficient current to kill a fox in 10 to 12 seconds.), and asphyxiation. In some countries without animal protection legislation, a heated rod is inserted into the anus, damaging the internal organs and causing fatal hemorrhaging.
Some inhumane methods include poisons (particularly strychnine and plant killers), and neck breaking. On some farms, car or truck exhaust is used; in this case, animal-protection groups claim, animals are known to survive and awaken during the skinning process.
Mink farmers usually breed female minks once a year. There are about three or four surviving kits for each litter, and they are killed when they are about half a year old, depending on what country they are in, after the first hard freeze. Minks used for breeding are kept for four to five years.
See also
- Leather
- Tanning
- Animal Liberation Front
- Robin Webb, Steven Best, David Barbarash
- Peter Singer, Tom Regan
External links
- PETA factsheet — Inside the fur industry
- Mercy For Animals article on fur farms
- Anti-fur farming website (in German)
- Video depicting the slaughtering of animals for their fur, some of which are still alive (Warning: graphic imagery)
- Video of dog and cat fur trade in China
