While many EU Member States have closed their mink farms in recent years, and others have already suspended mink farming to protect public health, mink fur farms in Europe represent a risk for maintaining reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2 and mutated strains within human society.

Thereby, future spillover between animals and humans can thwart the efforts to eliminate, or even control, the disease. EU mink farms must not become a reservoir for future spillback of SARS-CoV-2 from animals to humans.

Given the consequences of the risks identified in the scientific statement, and the substantial impact the pandemic has had so far on human lives, jobs and the European economy, Eurogroup for Animals and Fur Free Alliance urge the European Commission to take a precautionary approach to the severity of the crisis and suspend mink farming and breeding across the EU. This would be a proportionate answer to the risk.

Signatories

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