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.

Exotic pets in Europe are not only a mounting concern for animal welfare, public health and safety, and biodiversity conservation, but the patchwork of efforts to regulate the trade in Member States also undermines the internal market. The lack of uniformity in approaches across the Union makes the true extent of trade flows difficult to monitor and the enforcement of the rules that exist next to impossible.

As a solution, this White Paper proposes the establishment of an EU-wide positive list. This list would be elaborated using scientific risk assessments of which species can be considered ‘companion animals’ in full respect of their welfare needs, and their biological and husbandry requirements.

Request to the European Commission to re-open the infringement proceedings against Sweden regarding its wolf management policies and investigate the legality of its lynx management policies.

This report discusses the present state and future prospects of fur farming in Finland. The report was carried out as part of the ORSI research project investigating fair and robust methods to make Finland environmentally sustainable. The ORSI looks at structural changes linked to changing societal values, causing some industries to shrink or disappear while others emerge, offering new job opportunities. Gradually losing societal acceptance, fur farming is one example of an industry experiencing such disruption.

This report explores the structural changes in the Finnish fur farming sector, paying particular attention to future options.