This survey aims to explore the attitudes and perceptions of residents in rural communities
towards hunting practices. It seeks to gather valuable insights into the complex relationship between rural populations and hunting.

The survey was conducted by Savanta in November 2023 among a sample of 10,000 inhabitants of rural areas in the following Member States of the European Union: Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Romania.

This survey aims to explore the attitudes and perceptions of residents in rural communities
towards large carnivores. It seeks to gather valuable insights into the complex relationship between rural populations and the coexistence with large carnivores (wolves, bears and lynx).

The survey was conducted by Savanta in November 2023 among a sample of 10,000 inhabitants of rural areas in the following Member States of the European Union: Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Romania.

This reports provides an overview of current housing standards for mink, foxes and racoon dogs farmed for their fur in European countries, and confirms, through scientific evidence, that attempts to introduce cage enrichment or alternative housing systems to improve animal welfare are doomed to failure.

In the first edition of this report, published in 2015, we examined the welfare of mink and foxes farmed for fur in Europe and evaluated the fur industry’s WelFur protocols for on-farm welfare assessment. We concluded that WelFur could not address the major welfare issues for mink and foxes farmed for fur, the issues associated with inhumane handling and slaughter methods, or the serious inadequacies in fur labelling and regulation in Europe.

In this revised edition of our report, we update the scientific evidence regarding the welfare of animals farmed for fur in Europe, assess claims that these animals are, or could be, domesticated, and the credibility of WelFur.