Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Fur farm horror
Probe shows mink in dire conditions
A PAIR of mink – one suffering from paralysed back legs and putrefying flesh – endure awful conditions at a French fur farm.
These disturbing images highlight the living nightmare the animals face.
A campaigner said the footage is “like something from a horror film”.
The probe found mink in physical distress, some with hideous wounds.
Seriously injured animals were filmed dragging themselves over the wire-mesh f loor of their cages to reach the few drops of water.
Undercover investigators found clear evidence of repetitive behaviour typical of mental disturbance due to inappropriate living conditions.
The images, taken this month, show some animals in tiny barren cages above huge piles of faeces.
Investigators described the air as being thick from the foul stench.
Despite being semi-aquatic, the mink had no access to open water.
The Mirror is campaigning alongside Humane Society International/ UK to stop the sale of fur products in Britain.
Latest figures available show the UK imported £44million worth of fur from France between 2012 and 2016.
The images were sent to French animal welfare charity One Voice.
E xe c u t iv e d i re c t o r Claire Bass said: “This footage is like something from a horror film. Once
Behind the PR of the fur trade, the gruesome reality is exposed CHARITY BOSS AFTER SEEING THE FOOTAGE
again, behind the glossy PR of the fur trade, the gruesome reality is exposed – mutilated and paralysed animals in squalid conditions.
“Many people will be shocked such appalling
suf fering is hidden away... with animals so terribly failed by French and European animal protection laws.
“As long as the UK remains open for business to buy fur from overseas, we are complicit in this cruelty.”
One Voice has filed a complaint to the Attorney General’s Office in France about the scenes i n the footage. Professor Alastair Macmillan, veterinary adviser to Humane Society International/uk, said he is “appalled” by the images. He said the mink with the paralysed legs must have been “left untreated for at least several days” to get in such a shocking state.
The French Fur Industry condemned conditions at one of the
farms but said the other shows “no signs of lack of care or failure”.
A One Voice investigation in 2019 showed stomach-churning images of dying mink, corpses and cannibalism. Thirteen nations in Europe, including the UK, have banned fur farming.