Trapping practices are controlled by laws that ensure strict animal-welfare standards as defined by veterinary pathologists. We have humane standards and certified traps. Most animals are now captured in lethal traps that can kill virtually instantly. Larger predators are taken in modified live restraint traps that generally cause few injuries. Only a few furbearing species are still captured with modified restraining or cage traps, which have been shown to cause few or no injuries.
Scientific research established cage sizes to ensure that mink are provided with a comfortable living space in a farm environment. Farmed mink are domesticated animals, and farmers are responsible of ensuring their welfare with proper nutrition, housing and care. Ranchers work hard to raise healthy animals; in fact, their livelihood depends upon it! The way in which farmed mink are raised has been refined and perfected over many years. This work is guided by research to determine optimal cage size and design, nutrition and recommended husbandry practices, in order to ensure the health and well-being of the animals.
Because mink are like any other domesticated animal, they require farmers to take care of them for basic needs like food, water and shelter. When farms are attacked by animal rights extremists, both the animals and the people living on the farm suffer. Farmed mink have been raised in captivity for more than generations; they are not prepared to survive in the wild. Many will die of starvation or dehydration unless rescued quickly.
It is devastating for farm families too, of course, when strangers break into their property in the middle of the night, masked and dressed in black, destroying property and harming the animals that farmers have worked so hard to raise and care for.
After World War II, mink fur emerged as a fashion favourite , eclipsing the pre-war favourite, fox. Mink farming took off and a steady supply of mink oil was available for the first time.
Competitors followed suit, adding mink oil to lipstick, cleanser, moisturizer and hair products. These days, mink oil beauty products are harder to come by, and mink carcasses are usually composted into fertiliser — either on-farm or in separate facilities — or used to make bio-fuel. Mink oil is also used for bio-fuel, either alone or mixed with other animal fats.
The fat may be composted too, but it slows the process down. In regions where mink farms are clustered, the steady supply of fat is especially prized. Bio-fuel producers know that its protein level is higher than other animal fats, and that means more energy per unit.
A good supply also makes refined and purified mink oil a viable business for use in cosmetics, leather conditioning and other purposes. Spec refines some of its mink oil for specialty markets but sells most in raw form to companies that further refine it for sale to end users. Most ends up with tanneries to make leather pliable and waterproof, but consumers also buy it to condition leather saddles and baseball mitts, to waterproof boots, and other uses. In Europe, another centre of mink farming, the story is a little different.
Strict EU regulations governing the disposal of carcasses mean that almost all mink carcasses, along with the fat, are turned into bio-fuel. There are exceptions. In Iceland, the Einarsson family farms horses, sheep and, for the past 34 years, mink. Their breakthrough has been production of mink oil conditioner for leather shoes and saddles, and a range of lotions and creams, under the brand name Gandur , which are sold in pharmacies in Iceland, Sweden and Denmark.
Questions about the fur trade? Find answers here. Filter By : All. Ask a question. Our blog Go to blog. Is fur an ethical clothing choice? For a full discussion of how the North American fur trade satisfies all four of the criteria required for the ethical use of animals, please visit our blog post: Why fur is the ethical clothing choice Answer by : Alan Herscovici, senior researcher, Truth About Fur.
Are animals skinned alive for fur? It would be completely inhumane Contrary to what activists would have us believe, most farmers take great pride in what they do; they take good care of their animals and treat them with respect. Answer by : Senior researcher and writer, Truth About Fur. Is fur processing bad for the environment?
Answer by : Luigi Cappuccio, fur processor Montreal, Canada. Further information Is your fleece killing the ocean? By Mother Jones. Say no to faux: the ethics of fake fur By i-D.
Does trapping endanger species? Truth About Fur: Historically, there were few regulations governing hunting and trapping, and some species were indeed seriously reduced, including some local beaver populations.
Rules for licensed trappers who unintentionally trap a threatened or endangered species By Government of Ontario. Are farmed animals killed humanely? What types of furs are used in the fur trade? Why is American mink the world's favourite fur? By Truth About Fur - the Blog. After the fur is used, what happens to the rest of the mink? Further information Crabbing tips mink carcasses are popular with crabbers By fishyfish.
Animal fat-based biodiesel: Explore its untapped potential By Biodiesel Magazine. How to make fuel from animal fat By Ready4itall.
Are farmed mink raised only for their fur? Further information Crabbing tips mink carcasses are popular with crabbers By Fishyfish. Biofuel By Wikipedia. What is it really like to work on a mink farm? A year on a mink farm.
How are fur animals trapped in the wild? Conibear lethal trap Restraining systems: Live-holding traps are needed for larger predators because these animals e. Foothold trap More than 58 million USD has been invested over the past 20 years by state and federal governments and by the International Fur Federation to develop and test innovative humane trapping systems.
Are steel-jawed leghold traps still used in North America? Why do we need foothold traps? Are foothold traps humane? How are trapped animals killed? How are farmed foxes killed? Dave MacHattie, Canadian Veterinarian. How are farmed mink killed? A veterinarian answers: "When harvest time comes around, there are requirements and guidelines that ensure mink are euthanized humanely.
Answer by : Dr. Further information A Year on a Mink Farm. How do we know only targeted animals are captured? Trapper education By Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Fur harvester course By Government of Nova Scotia. Trapping in Ontario By Government of Ontario. Trapper education By Environment Yukon. What happens to the rest of the trapped animal after the fur has been taken? Muskrat recipes By From Cooks.
Why do we still need trapping? Further information How a trapper's knowledge solved my urban pest problem By Leslie Ballentine. Truth About Fur - the Blog. Is fur still biodegradable even though it is 'processed' to make it long-lasting? Fur is biodegradable By Fur Is Green. Fur processing By Truth About Fur website. Adding hair to compost By Gardening Know How. Are furbearers trapped only for their fur?
Trapping is also essential to protect some thirty endangered species of plants and animals. Further information Why trap? By Fur Institute of Canada. How are the prices of fur determined? Answer by : Howard Trager, fur broker Montreal, Canada. Further information Do fur farmers and trappers get a fair price for their products? By Truth About Fur website.
American Legend Cooperative. Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. North American Fur Auctions. Do fur farmers and trappers get a fair price for their products?
Further information How are prices of fur determined? How long does it take to make a fur coat? Is fur still warm if it is 'sheared' to be less bulky? Two types of fur are worth a special mention here.
Are fashion designers using fur in their new collections? The history of faux fur. For more than years, the fine line between finks and minks has been blurred By Alice Hines, Smithsonian. Sorry vegans, it turns out even fake fur is made from animal products By babe.
Plus, waste runoff seeps into soil and waterways, causing severe damage to local ecosystems. The injuring and killing of non-target animals by body-gripping traps pose a severe threat to endangered species.
Also, escaped predatory animals from fur farms cause a decrease of local biodiversity. The hazardous toxics used in the process of conserving, bleaching and dying pelts, pose an overall threat to the health of consumers wearing the products and to workers in fur processing plants. Energy is consumed at every stage of fur production. Similar to other types of agriculture, fur factory farms emit large quantities of greenhouse gasses, while burning fossil fuels and other resources.
The predators belong to the group of canine animals and are kept particularly often in China and to a lesser extent in Finland due to their supposedly low food and husbandry requirements. In unstructured wire mesh cages with a maximum surface area of one square metre and a height of 75 cm, the raccoon dog cannot move enough, nor can they live out their exploratory behaviours.
Due to the inadequate keeping and the proximity to conspecifics, the animals are under permanent stress. In the wild, the nocturnal omnivores prefer dense undergrowth and proximity to watercourses, where they also dive for fish. Their roaming areas are on average almost ten square kilometres in size, with the animals avoiding foreign conspecifics.
Depending on the weather, the raccoon dogs hibernate in the winter, for which they use burrows. Both parents are responsible for raising the young animals. Everyone knows the beautiful red fox Vulpes vulpes from our forests. Due to its beautiful red fur, this intelligent and sensitive animal is also kept on fur farms under cruel conditions. He shares this fate with his conspecifics in the colour variation silver fox, which have been intensively hunted for centuries because of their impressive silvery-black fur and have been almost exterminated in the wild.
His relatives, the arctic fox Alopex lagopus as white or blue fox , are also tormented and killed as fur animals. Because of the lack of room, the cage changes, and the separation of the young chinchillas from their families, it is common for them to suffer much distress.
The ways chinchillas are killed include gassing, electrocution, and neck fracture. Electrocution is most common and is used to kill large groups of chinchillas, and neck breaking is used on smaller groups.
Electrocution is mainly carried out by applying the electrodes to one ear and to the tail of the animal. There are concerns that these deaths are often painful and that the chinchillas are often not killed immediately. The animal welfare stipulations in place require that heart rate and respiration should be checked to make sure that the animals are dead, but this is often not done.
When the chinchillas are killed by breaking their necks, they are held by their tails with their heads hanging down. Their heads are then held and twisted rapidly until the animals die. The pain these animals endure as they are killed adds to the devastation of their being killed unnecessarily in the first place. Braastad, B. Burger, D. Clausen, T. Cybulski, W. Dallaire, J. Hagen, K. Hansen, S. Kleiman, D. Koivula, M. Lambooij, E. Larsson, C. Malmkvist, J. Mason, G. Meagher, R.
Moberg, G. Moe, R. Nimon, J. Prichard, W. Stephenson, R. Indicators relevant to farm animal welfare: Current topics in veterinary medicine and animal science , vol.
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