Dutch Fur Farms Culling 350,000 Mink Due to Coronavirus Risk
Around 50,000 mink pups have already been gassed after some tested positive for the disease.
Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / Djurrattsalliansen
A fur farm in the Dutch town of De Mortel, Netherlands, has been forced to kill over 10,000 mother mink and a further 50,000 mink pups, over growing fears they could pass a new strain of Coronavirus to humans.
In April, it was reported that workers on Dutch fur farms had passed COVID-19 onto some of the mink. By May, at least two cases were reported of mink having transmitted the virus back onto humans.
These are the only cases on record of animal-to-human transmissions so far, and have raised mounting concerns that it could create a dangerous new strain of the virus.
“We are calling for the 24 countries around the world that still allow mink farming to very rapidly evaluate the situation and evidence coming out of the Netherlands,” said Clair Bass, of the Humane Society International.
A further nine mink fur farms in the Netherlands are set to cull their animals, with Pieter Jacobs, of the Dutch Foods and Wares authority, estimating that 75,000 mothers and 300,000 pups will be killed.
With over 140 mink farms across the country, the Netherlands exports around $100 million worth of fur each year. However, an impending ban is due to come into effect in 2024.
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