One More Reason to Ditch Fur – the Environment

If you’re wearing fur, there can be only one explanation – that you’re unaware of the appalling suffering that animals endure at the hands of this cruel industry. There’s another important reason to shun fur, though – it also hurts the planet.

A recent study by an independent research organisation found that “a natural mink fur product will always have a higher environmental impact than faux fur”. This is hardly surprising – like all factory farming, fur farms produce copious amounts of toxic waste, from high volumes of animal faeces to the chemicals used to treat pelts. They also pollute the air: in Denmark, where more than 2 million minks are killed for their fur annually, more than 8,000 pounds of ammonia are released into the atmosphere each year.

Another independent research and consultancy conducted a study of mink farms in the Netherlands and Belgium. The study found that the climate-change impact of 1 kilogramme of mink fur is five times greater than that of the highest-scoring textile (wool). The study determined the impact of fur production with respect to 18 different environmental issues, such as climate change, ozone pollution, soil acidification and water and land use, and compared it to other common textiles. For 17 of the 18 issues, fur was found to be much more harmful than textiles.

These farms are also hellish for the animals who are forced to live on them – crammed into tiny cages, denied the opportunity to follow their natural instincts and often left with untreated festering wounds. They’re likely to end their lives by being beaten, gassed, anally electrocuted and sometimes skinned alive.

Ignore the fur industry’s desperate attempts to “greenwash” its unethical products. Fur is only “natural” when it’s on the animal who was born with it.

We’re working to stop the cruelty of fur from both ends of the supply chain: curbing demand by educating consumers and striking a blow against fur producers by campaigning for bans on fur farming. Fur farms are already illegal in the UK, but they still exist in Ireland. Please use your voice to advocate an end to cruelty by contacting Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture about this issue today:

Image: Jo Anne McArthur / We Animals