On November 26, the Intergroup on Welfare and Conservation of Animals met to discuss fur farming in the EU.

The meeting was opened by MEP Janusz Wojciechowski, President of the Intergroup on Welfare and Conservation of Animals who welcomed everyone to the launch of the new report “The Case Against Fur Factory Farming – A Scientific Review of Animal Welfare Standards and ‘WelFur’”.

“The 2001 report from the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare concluded that the housing systems cause serious animal welfare problems for the animals kept on fur farms. Nothing has changed in today’s fur farms. With the WelFur protocols, the fur industry is trying to muddy the waters” said Mark Glover, Campaigns Director from the UK based NGO Respect for Animals.

“The needs of undomesticated animals cannot be met in any farming system” said Professor Stephen Harris who is the co-author of the report “The Case Against Fur Factory Farming – A Scientific Review of Animal Welfare Standards and ‘WelFur’”.

Professor Stephen Harris continued, “The WelFur protocols have been designed around the very serious limitations of current housing systems. The WelFur best current practice still represents what most people would consider to be an unacceptable level of welfare.”

Inez Staarink, Policy Advisor on Agriculture, Nature, Animals and Food – Dutch Parliament, spoke about the process of banning fur farming in the Netherlands, a country that was the third biggest mink fur producing country in Europe.

She recommended the MEPs to support bans in the Member States, to prohibit the expansion of fur farms and to get correct labelling of fur products. “We should not export fur, we should export bans on fur farming” concluded Inez Staarink.

To read the new report “The Case Against Fur Factory Farming – A Scientific Review of Animal Welfare Standards and ‘WelFur’” click here.

For more information, contact:
Martyn Griffiths
Email: m.griffiths@eurogroupforanimals.org
Tel: +32 2 740 08 23
Mobile +32 479 97 21 56