Agriculture Minister urges fur farmers to shape up

Sirkka-Liisa Anttila

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Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (Centre) says that Finland’s fur farmers should put the living conditions of their animals in order - for the sake of their image, if nothing else.
      As of Thursday, the minister had not gone through the videos shot secretly by the Oikeutta eläimmille (“Justice for Animals”) organisation, but she has discussed the content of the material with her aides.
      Although this is the third furore over domestic animals kept in substandard conditions in a short time, Anttila feels that her own actions leave no room for criticism.
      “I will say directly, that much has been done. You would have to go a long way back to find as much action in a single electoral term.”
      The issue came up on Thursday during Parliament’s question time. Anttila said that more municipal veterinarians are needed in order to conduct proper inspections, and that if municipalities do not take action and implement adequate inspections at fur farms, the state might take over the task of conducting the inspections.
     
Green League chairwoman, Minister of Labour Anni Sinnemäki (Green) has called for a ban on fur farming. Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) pointed out that Sinnemäki’s view is not that of the entire government, noting that fur farming is a legal profession, which provides many jobs.
      The issue also divides political parties. Centre Party MPs Esko Ahonen and Tuomo Puumala of the Vaasa electoral district, where there are many fur farms, reject the idea of a ban, while MP Tanja Karpela (Centre) wrote in her blog on Thursday that she supports the aim of phasing out fur farms.
      Left Alliance Chairman Paavo Arhinmäki supports a ban on fur farming, while Sari Sarkomaa (Nat. Coalition Party) is against such a move. Instead, she supports changes in animal protection legislation.
     
The Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA) is examining the videos shot at Finnish fur farms. In addition, the organisation has promised to send to EVIRA a list of the fur farms where the material was recorded, between June and December last year.
      “The way that things will move forward is that we will track down the fur farms regionally ... After that we will send letters to provincial veterinarians who will organise inspections in their areas”, says EVIRA division chief Taina Mikkonen, explaining how the authority plans to proceed.
      Mikkonen said that she saw the videos taken at the farms, which were shown on the A Studio television programme on the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Wednesday evening.
      “The things that were shown should have been dealt with the farmer a long time ago. There were some terrible cases there in which the animals should have been put down.”
      In the clandestinely shot videos animals were shown with serious open wounds, stunted growth and troubled behaviour.
     
According to Oikeutta eläimmille, one of the farms shown on the videos that it released belong to the chairman of the Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association (STKL).
      At a press conference on Thursday the animal rights group showed a detailed video from the farm, which they said belonged to the association’s chairman.
      At the farm, the group said that they had seen two minks fighting in a cage. One of the animals had an ear missing: it had a bleeding open wound where the ear was supposed to be. The farm had been visited twice by the video group.
     
“We have zero tolerance for violations of animal protection”, insisted Tuula Dahlman, executive director of the Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association on Thursday.
      The association says that it will enact inspections at all farms where violations are suspected.
      “The first inspection was made on Thursday morning at the mink and fox farm of our association’s chairman Ulf Enroth on Thursday morning at his own request. The municipal veterinarian Esa Kääntee noted that there were no problems”, Dahlman said.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Animal rights group releases shocker video of fur farm conditions (18.2.2010)
  Anttila promises extensive improvements in conditions on pig farms (26.11.2009)

Links:
  The Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association (STKL)

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