The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has called for the immediate closure of a fur farm in Co Donegal.
A calls for an immediate ban on Fur Farming in Ireland welcoming the latest Serbia ban and Veterinary Ireland statement
The ISPCA says it is calling on Minister Michael Creed, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to introduce an immediate ban on fur farming in Ireland and for a #FURFREEIRELAND based on animal welfare, ethical and moral grounds.
This includes the closure of a mink farm outside Glenties.
A Red C Research poll* carried out in October 2018 showed that 8 out of 10 people in Ireland feel that farming and killing of animals for their fur should be banned.
On the 21st December 2018, Veterinary Ireland, the representative body for Irish veterinary surgeons published its policy on fur farming in Ireland and called for an immediate ban.
The ISPCA agrees with Veterinary Ireland’s conclusions based on scientific evidence that basic levels of welfare cannot be met for animals on fur farms, even under the European fur industry’s flawed “WelFur Scheme”.
The ISPCA also welcomes the ban on fur farming in Luxembourg in 2018 and congratulates Serbia on becoming the latest country to adopt a ban (from 1st January 2019) in line with developments across Europe and globally.
ISPCA CEO Dr Andrew Kelly said “There is overwhelming scientific evidence outlined in the Fur Free Ireland Briefing Document that fur farming is cruel. There are three fur farms in Ireland located in Donegal, Kerry and Laois containing up to 200,000 mink, farmed in tiny, wire mesh battery cages (typically measuring 90x30x45cm) only to suffer a cruel and inhumane death by gassing.
“Mink are essentially wild animals and keeping them in small cages in which they are deprived of the ability to express their normal behaviours such as swimming and foraging is not acceptable. Mink are semi-aquatic and highly evolved physiologically to hold their breath, so they are prone to hypoxia meaning they will potentially suffer during gassing”.
Andrew added: “It is not acceptable that every year in Ireland, approximately 150,000 of these mink are killed solely for a non-essential fashion item. The ISPCA welcomes the recent statement from Veterinary Ireland recommending an immediate ban on the farming of mink, and other wild animals, and we urge the Irish government to introduce a ban without further delay to put an end to this inhumane practice.
“In a recent consultation on the government’s future animal welfare strategy, the Department of Agriculture committed to build an animal welfare strategy that would allow Ireland to be recognised for its high animal welfare standards. This cannot be achieved until fur farming is consigned to the history books”.
In the past twelve months, Norway, Belgium and Luxembourg adopted legislation to end fur farming and currently Ireland is on the parliamentary agenda along with Poland, Denmark, Lithuania and Estonia.
The ISPCA urges the Irish government to introduce a ban without further delay.
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