Calling for an End to the Cruel Global Fur Farming Industry, Fur Free Alliance Submits 880,457 Petition Signatures to G20 Leaders

As Members of the Fur Free Alliance, Last Chance for Animals Calls on the Government of Canada to Issue a Declaration: Fur Farming Must End

TORONTO, Oct. 20, 2021 /CNW/ - The Fur Free Alliance (FFA) handed over more than 880,000 signatures to Italy's G20 delegation calling for urgent global action on fur farming at the upcoming G20 Summit in Rome later this month. Considering the spread of COVID-19 on hundreds of mink fur farms worldwide, the Alliance's 'Stop Deadly Fur' petition urges world leaders to publicly acknowledge that fur farming must end, to protect public and animal health.

Last Chance for Animals (LCA) is a member of the FFA and collected over 70,000 signatures contributing to the petition. In Canada, during 2020 and 2021, three outbreaks of COVID-19 on mink fur farms have been recorded in British Columbia's Fraser Valley region.

Fur farming comes at a high cost to animal welfare. LCA conducted a year-long whistleblower expose into Millbank, a fur farm in Ontario that houses approximately 40,000 minks. The expose documented minks painfully suffering with untreated illnesses, injuries, and lesions. During the expose a veterinarian was never seen onsite. The cruelty documented was so severe Millbank pleaded guilty to failing to comply with prescribed standards of care under section 11.1(1) of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and paid a monetary penalty.

Minks are highly susceptible to COVID-19, which spreads rapidly in intensive fur farms that often breed many thousands of animals in cramped, unhygienic, and stressful conditions. Since April 2020, over 440 mink fur farms have been affected with coronavirus in 12 countries in Europe and North America, and millions of minks have been infected and culled as a result.

Yet, despite this, most fur-producing countries, including Canada, have allowed intensive mink breeding operations to continue despite serious concerns about public health risks. The G20 Summit in Rome is the ideal opportunity for global leaders to acknowledge the risks posed by fur farming and to take urgent action to end the practice.

Joh Vinding, chairman of the Fur Free Alliance, says: "Coronavirus outbreaks on mink farms have exposed how the inhumane and unsustainable conditions on fur farms provide the ideal conditions for a virus to spread and mutate. We call on world leaders to acknowledge the pandemic disease risks involved with this appalling industry and take urgent action to shut it down for good".

"LCA is calling on G20 leaders to publicly declare that fur farming must end," said Miranda Desa, Canadian Counsel for LCA. "Fur farming is a risk to the health of the public and comes at a high cost of animal welfare. In this new socially and politically aware era, no animal should suffer and die for a piece of fashion."

On behalf of supporters around the world, LCA and FFA call on all fur-producing countries to take urgent action to shut down this cruel industry and urge G20 leaders to publicly acknowledge that fur farming must end. Given the immense animal suffering on intensive fur farms and the very real threat of virus mutations and animal-to-human transmission, now is the time to end the global fur farming industry.

ABOUT LAST CHANCE FOR ANIMALS:
LCA is an international non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating animal exploitation through education, investigations, legislation, and public awareness campaigns. Since its formation in 1984, LCA has succeeded as one of the nation's pioneer animal advocacy groups. LCA's educational and public outreach programs have empowered the public to make positive changes for animals in their communities. For more information, visit https://www.lcanimal.org/.

SOURCE Last Chance for Animals