Cannibalism and savagery in world’s biggest fur farm
Polish MPs backing ban after activist film exposes horrors
AN activist has told of seeing mink dying amid shocking scenes of cannibalism and self-mutilation at what is believed to be the world’s largest fur farm.
Yevhen Zenia said he witnessed suffering and death every day during three months undercover at the site in Goreczki, Poland.
It is thought to house 500,000 mink and the footage he shot for group Open Cages is so harrowing that Poland’s largest political party, Law and Justice, now backs a bill to ban fur farming. And Yevhen is now urging the UK to ban fur sales to help end the sickening trade. He said: “Since the day I arrived, I saw death constantly, every day. It was very hard for me. The circumstances of death varied. Some died of food poisoning, others from cannibalism.” Prosecutors in Krotoszyn county sent vet Andrzej Zarnecki to inspect the farm. He said: “There are no shortcomings that would require action to be taken. There is nothing that would mean that something bad is going on there.”
But Yevhen’s footage shows thousands of mink crammed into tiny cages, some foaming at the mouth. Dead animals lie among them and dogs are seen chasing terrified mink that have escaped from their cages.
He also witnessed animals eating cagemates alive – leaving some paralysed or with gruesome gaping wounds.
Another clip shows shelves packed with dead mink in a makeshift “hospital” where the sick and injured are left to die.
Poland is the third-biggest producer of fur after China and
UNDERCOVER Yevhen Zenia
Denmark, killing five million animals a year. Over the past five years, it has exported nearly £22million of fur to the UK.
But Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczynski is now urging cross-party unity against the cruelty of fur farms.
Humane Society International’s Poland director Iga Glazewska said: “The sickening images speak for themselves and fully contradict the PR spin of the fur trade, peddling the myth of fur as a ‘ natural’ or ‘ high-welfare’ product.
“There is nothing natural about a wild animal in a tiny cage with open wounds and
expressing mental distress. The message from Poland is clear – people will no longer accept animals being inhumanely kept and killed for fashion.”
Urging the UK Government to ban fur sales, Yevhen said: “After witnessing the savagery of this industry from the inside, I can tell you welfare does not exist. Wild animals do not belong in cages. That’s why I fully support a #FurFreeBritain.”
Claire Bass, HSI’s executive director in the UK, is working with the Mirror to change the law on fur sales here.
She said: “This is among the most appalling animal suffering and neglect I have ever seen.
“The UK Government must send a clear message that we won’t trade in such obscene cruelty by banning fur sales.”