Denmark – fur industry in the crown crisis: the land of dead minks

The time to turn the furs into money was just around the corner for Denmark’s mink farmers: by the end of November at the latest, the animals had acquired their soft winter fur and the fur should begin. But most animals won’t even make it until then. Many minks die sooner, and that could affect entire populations across the country. The minks do not become coats or muffs, but they burn.

Up to 17 million animals are said to be slaughtered in one to two weeks. That is what the government of the country ordered, which is just over five million people. Many animals are already dead, while Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democratic cabinet continues to work frantically on a law for this. The head of government was forced to publicly apologize to the animal owners for the lack of a legal basis for the slaughter and is now under pressure. Responsible Minister Mogens Jensen is now open to not euthanizing all animals.

The situation is dire: a new coronavirus mutation called “Cluster 5” had spread among minks in Denmark and has already spread to people. Therefore, according to the plan, all healthy populations must be culled, not just those in a risk zone around farms with infected animals. The concern behind it: a mutated version of the virus could weaken the effectiveness of a vaccine the world is desperately waiting for. In some parts of Jutland there is now a fear of becoming a second Wuhan.

How could it come to this? What does the virus mean for the industry and why is the fur industry so important in Denmark?

The Scandinavian country has been preparing for years to satisfy the world’s hunger for fur and is making a lot of money from it. In 2013, the industry posted a record turnover of 13 billion kronor (about 1.7 billion euros) and accounted for almost one percent of all Danish exports. After pigs and cows, the mink is the third most important agricultural animal in the country. Even when stricter rules for fur farming came into force in Germany in 2017, Danish farmers and breeders were keen to take over the mink and chinchilla business, which ceased to be profitable in this country. The neighboring country to the north has long been the world’s largest mink fur producer.

Fur fashion recently celebrated an incredible comeback thanks to the thick fur on the hoods of winter parkas. Sometimes beads and necklaces made from real animal fur are even cheaper than faux fur, some consumers unknowingly buying them. While Gucci and Chanel pulled the oldest garment off the advertised show, demand for furs rose rapidly in Russia and China with growing prosperity.

Denmark combines several location advantages to meet this growing demand. The largely unregulated branch of the economy benefits from the large number of other types of livestock in the country. “Easy access to fresh feed from fishing and slaughterhouse waste is one of the main reasons for the settlement of mink farmers and ensures a good coat,” says Henning Otte Hansen, an agricultural economist at the University of Copenhagen. The cool climate of the Nordic countries also ensures that the hides are of high quality.

Additionally, according to Hansen, there are decades of experience in breeding and with the genetic makeup of animals. The Copenhagen Fur auction house, run by the breeders themselves, has been the most important fur transshipment point in the world with five auctions a year. Hundreds of international distributors arrive every time.

99 percent of the skins are exported and sewn for clothing in China, Cambodia and Vietnam, among others. There is also Danish fashion design. Unlike Germany, for example, pressure from animal rights activists on the industry has so far been comparatively low.

Fur farmers in Denmark can count on the support of the population. According to a survey by the research institute Megafon for the channel TV2, 53 percent of Danes are in favor of continuing fur farming even after the crown crisis, while only 34 percent are against it. Apart from the two small left-wing parties, the Unity List and SF, all parliamentary parties are behind the production. Therefore, the Danish debate on mink culling has so far mainly focused on political responsibility and how and to what extent breeders who do not have business until at least 2022 should be compensated.

Motorists stock up on mink

The question of whether mink farming is still appropriate is highly doubtful in the country. While Austria, Norway and the Czech Republic have long banned the keeping of fur animals for ethical reasons, there is still cage after cage in Denmark. There are different opinions on whether this is appropriate and justifiable. While the animal welfare organization Peta speaks of a “hell for animals”, researchers at Aarhus University believe that animal-friendly husbandry is possible and have developed a quality label for mink farming.

The Danske Minkavlere industry association even advertises that the hides are sustainable and proudly announces that the carcasses are still used as fertilizer or biodiesel. In other words: drivers also refuel animals. In addition, according to the association, the animals lived mainly on waste. And fur clothing can last for decades.

Opponents of fur, on the other hand, point to the use of chemicals in processing, the changing fashion, and the fact that only a small amount of fur is recycled if it is only for applications on clothing.

Regardless of how fur farming is evaluated ethically, one thing is clear: if animals are kept in a confined space, germs and disease can spread especially quickly. “In mink farms, SARS-CoV-2 is found with many susceptible animals in a very small space, which favors the replication and transmission of the virus to its congeners”, reports the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) for Animal Health upon request. “Also, a high viral load (aerosols) can be assumed there, which can allow transmission to humans.” The Federal Research Institute also notes that humans have entered the virus in postures.

In the case of mink, this is particularly problematic because sable-like animals are highly susceptible to the new coronavirus. “The virus reproduces well in them and is also efficiently transmitted to its congeners,” as the FLI says. As a result, the role of mink in the infection process had already been discussed in the Netherlands in May. With consequences: the country is now withdrawing prematurely from mink farming due to corona infections.

Danish mink farmers have not been threatened with a permanent ban so far, but the future for the industry still looks bleak. “I think it’s impossible to just get the industry back up and running after a year and a half,” says agricultural economist Hansen. Breeding animals would now be killed too, and with them the gene pool for beautiful fur. Hansen hopes that specialty feed mills will also close and that farmers will have sought other sources of income by then. “I don’t think farmers want to start from scratch, especially since the risk of a new pandemic persists.” This is probably one of the reasons why Prime Minister Frederiksen expressed her “great sympathy” for mink farmers: “Many of you are losing not only your livelihood, but also your life’s work.”

Mink companies recently posted losses

Furthermore, for many of the up to 6,000 people in the Danish mink industry, the current crown shoots were just the harshest of many setbacks in the recent past. Over the past seven years, business in the highly fluctuating and unregulated fur market had been much worse than in 2013. Overproduction drove prices down: breeders received less than € 30 for each mink fur instead of the equivalent at 70 euros seven years ago. Therefore, many breeders have already given up, there are now less than a thousand farms, and recently they have suffered heavy losses.