Legal action possible as mink breeders fight fur farm ban

Vancouver -

Canadian mink breeders are not ruling out legal action as they slam the B.C. government's decision to shutter the mink fur farming sector.

On Friday, provincial Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham unveiled a process to permanently phase out the farming of mink, due to concerns over COVID-19. The process is expected to be completed by April 2025.

There are nine mink farms in B.C. with a total of 318,000 mink. Animals on three of those farms have been infected with COVID-19.

“That has led to transmission between mink, between mink and humans, and humans back to mink,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, on Friday.

Denmark ordered the slaughter of millions of mink in November 2020 over concerns that the coronavirus could mutate in the animals and be passed back to humans. However, Canadian breeders say their facilities have adequate biosecurity measures in place, and don’t believe there’s sufficient evidence to shut the industry down in B.C. 

“This is absolutely an unnecessary, radical and excessive response,” said Matt Moses, a Nova Scotia mink farmer and former president of the Canada Mink Breeders Association (CMBA).

Of the 60 mink farms in Canada, Moses says just three have recorded cases of COVID-19. He’s calling on the B.C. government to approach COVID-19 outbreaks the way same way it treated outbreaks of avian flu in poultry plants.

“Eradicate the animals on a single farm, not perfectly healthy farms,” said Moses. “We’ve never in Canadian history, to my knowledge, gone so far as to eradicate perfectly healthy farms.”

The CMBA claims the province is caving to pressure from animal welfare groups.

“It takes generations of work, including excellent nutrition and care, and abiding by Canada’s robust mink welfare program, to develop the quality of mink that Canada is famous for,” said Rob Bollert, president of the CMBA, in a press release.

“These bureaucrats are destroying all that effort without any real scientific justification,” said Bollert.

Moses says if the provincial government is not willing to reconsider the phase-out plan, fur farm advocates will look to have their arguments heard in court.

“I would relish the opportunity to demonstrate both sides in front of people who make proper decisions,” he said.

“It’s the last gasp of a dying industry, frankly,” said Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of Humane Society International Canada.

In addition to animal welfare concerns, Aldworth believes the fur farming industry must shut down if it poses any risk to public health.

“The (CMBA) is rightfully concerned that other provinces are going to follow B.C.’s tremendous lead and they’re trying to do some scare mongering to prevent that from happening.”

However, Moses believes B.C. is the only province willing to shut the sector down.

“I’m confident the Canadian (government) and other provincial jurisdictions will, at least, sit at the table and look over all of the science to date, and certainly won’t come to these same conclusions,” he said.

The multi-year phase-out includes an immediate provincewide ban on mink breeding, and a closure of live mink farms by April 2023. To give operators ample time to sell their live mink to other regions, they will be permitted to keep a reduced number of the animals until early 2023. All remaining pelts must be sold by April 2025.