Animal rights groups released videos of foxes injured, sick and trapped in small cages last week. The animals were filmed queuing to be slaughtered in the Finnish fur industry.
The images, taken without permission, were obtained from the Finnish association Oikeutta Eläimille (Justice for Animals). The records stimulate discussion about the sector and reinforce calls for an end to this trade.
With around 1 million furs produced every year, the Nordic country is the European market leader in fox breeding and number 2 worldwide behind China.
“Fur farming should already be banned in Finland. I find it unfortunate that this is still not the case,” Mai Kivela, an MP for the Left Alliance, which is part of the governing coalition, told AFP.
In December, an initiative by European citizens calling for a ban on the fur trade across the European Union garnered 1 million signatures, enough to force a response from the European Commission.
Several member states have already banned this type of industry, but the appeal goes to the 27 countries in the bloc to ban this trade as well, as it is a practice considered “inherently cruel”. The Covid19 pandemic has accelerated the movement, with total or partial bans in France, the Netherlands or Estonia.
In Finland, Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced in 2020, under pressure from her Left Alliance partners and the Greens, that she supported the ban but was making no progress on the issue.
The majority in Parliament defends the animal skins trade as it generates 360 million euros, about R$2 billion, in exports. In addition, this sector employs more than 3,000 people and is vital for certain rural areas in Finland.
Shocking videos
Locked in apparently very small metal cages, giant foxes with extremely thick fur contract eye diseases as well as ear and tail infections.
“The living conditions of these animals on these farms are frankly terrible,” association activist Kristo Muurimaa told AFP.
Foxes that are unable to meet their exercise needs are vulnerable to behavioral disorders like compulsive walking, he explained.
In the videos, some foxes are so overweight they don’t even look like foxes anymore. They are also seen devouring the corpses of some of their children.
According to the association, the problem is widespread and “all fur farms in Finland are more or less identical in the treatment of the animal”.
Fifur condemned the unauthorized recording of the videos, saying they did not reflect reality.
“You give a completely false picture of fatherhood,” his spokesman OlliPekka Nissinen told AFP.
The organization says it has shown the videos to its breeders, but they “do not recognize their animals, except maybe a silver fox.”
Still, veterinary visits are being arranged to investigate the allegations, Fifur said.
The four certified farms “are well managed and certified and have breeders who take care of their animals,” Nissinen said.
The certification system, which is intended to certify the health of the animals, includes annual inspection visits.
“In general, a farm with between 5,000 and 10,000 animals can have sudden infections,” but statistics show that “injuries and mortality are quite low,” Nissinen argued.
Denmark, world champion in mink, has decided to kill more than 15 million of these animals for health reasons. Breeding was temporarily resumed in early January.