Nerze in Käfigen einer polnischen Pelzfarm

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Fur farming in Europe Cruel abuses uncovered at Polish mink farm 05/16/2024 from Nadine Carstens

A new draft law could finally lead to a ban on fur farming in Poland - a meeting between politicians and members of the Fur Free Alliance, a coalition of 40 international organizations, has now taken place in Warsaw to push this forward. The German Animal Welfare Federation was also present.

Minks that are crammed into cramped metal mesh cages, employees who brutally beat minks to death, decomposing animal carcasses in open garbage cans - the extent of the cruelty of the recently uncovered conditions on a fur farm in Poland is simply unimaginable. The footage has now been published by Otwarte Klatki, a Polish partner organization of the German Animal Welfare Federation. The organization had infiltrated an undercover employee on a huge mink farm in the district of Lubusz in western Poland, who spent five weeks at the end of 2023 documenting the abuses taking place there. The farm belongs to the Dutch family business Van Ansem, which is one of the largest fur producers in the world. It has been active in this industry since the 1960s - and in Poland since 1991, where it operates fur farms not only in Lubusz, but also in the districts of West Pomerania, Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Wielkopolska. Van Ansem also has fur farms in Romania, Latvia and the USA.

The mink farm where the pictures were taken is located in western Poland and is one of the largest fur producers in the world.

Dutch fur company has long been criticized

In fact, this is not the first time that Van Ansem has hit the headlines. To name just one example: Back in 2018, the Netherlands-based organization Eyes on Animals filmed the abuses of a more than 700-kilometre-long transport of minks that were to be taken from the Dutch town of Meijel to three of the company's fur farms in Poland. The animals were in unsecured cages stacked on top of each other, while the mink droppings fell through the bars onto the animals below. In addition, the driver of the truck had not received proper training on how to care for the animals, so he did not give them enough water and food.

Rabbits in an outdoor enclosure on a garden meadow

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New draft law planned for a fur farm ban in Poland

In the Netherlands itself, once the second largest mink producer in the EU, Van Ansem does not operate a fur farm - because a fur farming ban has been in force there since 2021. In total, fur farming is now banned in 15 out of 27 EU countries. Poland, on the other hand, is currently the largest fur producer in Europe. Although there have already been several attempts at a ban there too, they have all failed so far. This is now set to change: International animal rights activists from the Fur Free Alliance met at the Polish parliament in Warsaw on May 16 to support a currently planned draft law and exert pressure on politicians based on the newly published abuses. The German Animal Welfare Association, which is a member of the Fur Free Alliance and has been campaigning against fur farming worldwide for many years, was also represented at the meeting . In discussions with the participating politicians from parliament and representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Environment, the animal rights activists emphasized how essential it is to ban fur farming in Poland. In the end, they presented Green MP Małgorzata Tracz, who plans to present the new legislative proposal in June, with an official letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Polish parliament calling for fur farming to be finally abolished. The animal welfare organizations also outlined how Poland could phase out fur farming in a similar way to other EU countries such as Lithuania and the Netherlands.

Not only does the fur industry harm animals and the environment, it has also been economically unprofitable for years. There is therefore no reason whatsoever to continue to allow animals to suffer for their fur. We are optimistic that Poland will also take the step towards a country without fur farms. The will of the population is clear, as was also made clear in the European Citizens' Initiative for a Fur-Free Europe, which was supported by numerous Polish citizens.

Dr. Henriette Mackensen Deputy Managing Director Science at the Animal Welfare Federation

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