[ad_1]
Denmark is a world leader in the mink industry and last year the country exported mink furs worth DKK 4.9 billion, according to Danmarks Radio.
Now the whole industry is expected to go to the grave in practice. Since a mutated variant of the coronavirus was found among herds, there has been a massive slaughter of animals. Today, the Folketing is expected to vote through a bill banning mink farming in the country in 2021.
Billion note
On Monday morning, the Liberal Party, the largest opposition party, announced that it would vote against today’s proposal. This is because it is believed that mink farmers will not receive a good enough compensation, reports the Danish news agency Ritzau.
The amount of financial compensation that mink breeders will receive is not yet clear and this is something that the parties will negotiate at the Folketing. According to Danmarks Radio, the bill could reach around 20 billion Danish crowns.
Even if the Liberal Party votes no, the bill will pass. The Social Democratic government will reach the majority in the Folketing because the parties supporting the Radical Left, the Popular Socialist Party and the Unity List will vote in favor.
Around eleven million Danish minks have been killed and destroyed. Only around four million minks have been killed with the goal of turning into fur. The mass slaughter in combination with the ban on mink farming will mean that the industry will in practice go to the grave.
– In principle, Denmark will be permanently away from the market. Breeding animals are practically gone and it takes forever to get back, Jörgen Martinsson, CEO of Swedish mink, tells TT.
During the pandemic, Martinsson had close contact with his Danish colleagues.
– The first shock has turned into pain. Then there is political chaos and political scandal in the aftermath of all this, he says.
Illegal decision
In some cases, the mutated coronavirus among Danish minks has spread to humans and there are fears that a future vaccine will be ineffective.
The Danish Social Democratic government made the decision that all minks, including healthy animals, should be euthanized, but a few days later the decision turned out to be illegal. On November 18, the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Mogens Jensen (S) resigned to address the issue.
The Folketing has decided to appoint an investigation into how the mink problem has been handled.
Daniel Kihlström / TT
Annually, about 50 million mink furs are produced in the world and about a third come from Denmark, which is the world’s largest mink breeder.
Production is also large in China, Poland and the Netherlands, among other places.
In the Netherlands, a decision was made in 2013 to ban mink farming and the industry was given ten years for a controlled elimination. However, due to the severe virus outbreak among herds in the country, the Dutch state decided to advance the ban until 2021.
In Sweden, there are about 40 crews, of which about half at Listerlandet in Blekinge.
About 90 percent of Swedish furs are sold to Chinese buyers.
Sources: Ritzau, Swedish mink
[ad_2]
