Djurens Rätt exposes troublesome links between mink farms and factory farming

The troublesome conditions in the fur industry are already well known and the collective opinion against mink farms is strong in Sweden. The new report shows the problems that are less known, that Swedish mink farms also contribute to extensive suffering in other species and at least 30 million individual lives – per year. Above that, the mink farms contribute to some funding of chicken factory farming which has created economical motivation for farmers to protect the existence of mink farms. 

– Mink farms do not only contribute to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of minks every year, but also the death of millions of fishes which impact the surrounding seas. The arguments for a ban on mink farms were many to begin with, but will only increase with this new report. It is time for politicians to act on it, said Camilla Bergvall, president of Djurens Rätt. 

The new report from Djurens Rätt highlights the extensive sustainability risks that mink farms contribute to in agriculture and fisheries. As a part of the report the use of slaughter waste is also illustrated, and the importance of introducing measures to reduce both the suffering and the food waste that are ongoing in fisheries and factory farms in Sweden. There is also a need to reduce the slaughter of animals overall, to reduce the amount of slaughter waste.  

– Animal welfare is evidently a part of sustainability and it is not sustainable to breed carnivores in small wire cages in a system that also contributes to suffering in other industries. The report Djurens Rätt published is more proof that mink farms are unsustainable and need to be phased out immediately, Camilla Bergvall concluded. 

Four key conclusions

1. There would be many positive effects of sustainability for several animal species and Sweden's nature if the Swedish mink farms closed.
2. There are intimate economic links between mink farms and other factory farms, especially within the chicken industry and in fisheries. 
3. Slaughterhouse waste in Sweden is increasing with rising animal production. It is currently not used in a sustainable way. 
4. The animal rights movement may risk creating greater support for mink farms by the farming industry as a whole – and greater resistance to change to more animal-friendly operations – if hateful and violent methods are used. 

Read the report “The troublesome links between mink farms and factory farming”.