The article argues that the European Commission’s plan to adopt “welfare standards” instead of a ban on fur farming disregards public demand, scientific evidence and EU law, exposing political and policy inconsistencies and how the Union undermines its foundational values.
The EU is on course to adopt ‘welfare standards’ for fur farming. Betraying animals, citizens, and… itself.
The European Commission is set the announce its final response to one of the most successful citizens initiatives to date. The one where 1.5 million people asked for a Fur Free Europe. The next episode? Very likely to be ‘The one where the Commission announces ‘welfare standards” – rather than an end to fur in the EU. That is despite the Commission requesting an EFSA Scientific Opinion on the welfare of fur animals – indicating a lack of scientific information to underpin its decision – and that Opinion not only highlighting the severe welfare consequences faced by mink, foxes, raccoon dogs and chinchillas in fur production, but going as far as asserting that these cannot be substantially prevented nor mitigated within the cage systems of the fur industry.
Case closed, you’d think. Especially in light of Directive 98/58 (concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes) which provides in paragraph 21 of its Annex that “No animal shall be kept for farming purposes unless it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of its genotype or phenotype, that it can be kept without detrimental effect on its health or welfare”, what needed to happen seemed crystal clear. The cages used on fur farms haven’t changed since EFSA’s predecessor concluded in 2001- back when pigs could fly- that the welfare of animals kept for fur production is severely compromised. Alternative systems? Don’t exist. Where the law clearly says case closed, the Commission seems to have mistaken it for cage closed.
