VANCOUVER -- CTV News has learned the B.C. government will allow mink farms to begin breeding again this spring, despite pleas from animal rights groups to reconsider.
“It is absolutely shocking that this is being allowed to continue,” said Lesley Fox, executive director of The Fur-Bearers. “There is a real risk here, and it’s a risk we can’t afford.”
Last December, mink at two Fraser Valley farms tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Two hundred died unexpectedly, and 1,000 were destroyed as a precaution.
At least 17 people associated with one of the farms caught COVID-19.
Fox argued the Ministry of Agriculture is ignoring lessons learned. In Denmark, where 17 million mink were killed, there is evidence the animals passed the virus onto humans and vice-versa.
The virus also mutates in mink, and can be passed back to people.
“We’re just starting to get vaccines,” said Fox. “Everybody is doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID, and the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture needs to do their part.”
The ministry told CTV News the two farms affected by the outbreak last year remain under quarantine. All other B.C. mink farms can begin breeding as usual, but the government said it urged them to take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.
