Animal rights group releases shocker video of fur farm conditions

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“There is no such thing as a good fur farm”, says Jaana Rancken, spokeswoman for the animal welfare group Oikeutta eläimille (“Justice for Animals”).
      “Animals are kept in crowded conditions on all farms”, she says.
      The current affairs television programme A Studio, aired by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Wednesday evening showed video material taken by the organisation at Finnish fur farms.
      In early December, the same group caused a stir with pictures taken at pig farms showing animals being kept in cramped and unsanitary conditions.
     
Rancken says that the latest pictures were taken last summer and autumn at 30 farms mainly in the Ostrobothnia region.
      Included in the material are pictures of foxes whose tails had been bitten off and animals that had died in their cages. Rancken emphasised that none of the farms were broken into.
     
Last year a public outcry was sparked in both Norway and Denmark over similar pictures taken by local animal rights activists at fur farms in those countries.
      In Norway, the veterinarians’ union called for a total ban on fur farming. Oikeutta eläimille has the same goal for Finland.
     
Professor Jaakko Mononen of the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, says that current conditions at fur animals in Finland do not differ much from those of other animals raised for production.
      “All production animal species have problems, and they need to be dealt with. Fur animals do not have any more problems than others”, Mononen notes.
     At his university Mononen heads a research group on animal behaviour and welfare, and has studied fur animals especially.
     
Standards set for raising fur animals were upgraded most recently in 1999. Fur farms have until the end of this year to meet the new standards.
      Mononen says that animal welfare studies have not yet yielded results which would require changes in existing rules.
      He said that a recent Norwegian study is in line with experiences from Finland. It found that about one per cent of fur animals have visible health problems.
     
Green League chairwoman, Minister of Labour Anni Sinnemäki called for phasing out fur farming in Finland.
      In a comment published on the website of Oikeutta eläimille, Sinnemäki said that ending fur farming should be written into the next government programme.
      “Raising animals in cages is not ethically sustainable. Predators in small cages cannot live according to their natural characteristics.”
      She also wrote that living conditions of fur animals should be upgraded during the interim period before a total ban takes effect. She also called for closer scrutiny of fur farms, with inspections of farms where problems have arisen.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Animal rights activists interrupt question-time in Parliament (18.12.2009)
  Extensive changes demanded in animal welfare rules (10.12.2009)
  Anttila promises extensive improvements in conditions on pig farms (26.11.2009)

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