Luxury, from the mink point of view: an unprecedented investigation by One Voice!
One Voice leads a nonviolent fight to defend animal rights and respect all life forms. The organization operates independently and is thus free to speak and act freely.
One Voice conducted a survey into French mink farms, mink who are farmed for their fur. While the latter is synonymous with luxury, the other side of the picture is not glamorous. The images, unveiled exclusively, give a tragic insight.
They
dream only of one thing, freedom. They should have enjoyed a hectic
life alone, protecting their territory, teaching the little ones to
hunt and fish, dig burrows, smell the fresh humus, hide in the weeds
of the wetlands … But these mink from America are born in a cage
and will only know the time of their short life, the wire cages,
self-mutilation by force of stress and deprivation, then a long death
by asphyxiation. For their fur...
No respect for the needs of mink
Of
these images, filmed by people who had access to the farms, we
discovered and dismayed, the cages all lined up and in very poor
condition or even completely dilapidated. The minks frantically
seeking a way out of their psychological misery, stress and boredom,
by surveying in the few cubic decimetres of living space that are
conceded to them. They are caught in a vice between the putrefied
remains of food, deposited directly onto the cages, and their
droppings, piled up on the ground beneath them, inevitably polluting
the groundwater that runs off it, and saturating the air with a
pestilential odour.
These
animals, naturally solitary and territorial, are subjected to extreme
stress. Lack of space, even promiscuity, is unbearable for them. How
to escape a conflict in these conditions? How to isolate yourself a
little? The fence abruptly shears their semi-webbed legs,
over-solicited. Deprived of all access to water, an element essential
to their well-being, they are hurt, they are afraid, they are bored,
they want to go out, they go crazy …
Suffering right up to the end
While
a free mink lives for about ten years, they are barely eight months
old when they are harshly picked out by the breeder. On our images,
we see them being thrown brutally on top of each other in a
container. In one of the filmed farms, a dog watches, and pounces on
those who desperately try to flee.
Death
by asphyxiation has relative “success” and speed. Piled on
top of each other, some survive a first session. But this choice of
industry is not made to limit their suffering. We must above all
preserve their precious coat from any blood stains!
A disaster for the environment
The
fur industry has major environmental consequences, including its use
of heavy metals, its water consumption and its effluent production.
In many of the mink farms filmed, the excrement evacuation system was
substandard or non-existent. The images also show corpses decomposing
on the ground, which means a significant polluting effect to the
environment, and therefore major health risks for the entire
ecosystem … including human.
As
for the mink that manages to escape, their freedom is at the price of
their future European cousins.
To learn more, discover our full report
One
Voice calls for the ban on mink farming in France. Let us write together to the Prime Minister to enhance the power of the voices of
mink and all the other animals raised and killed for their fur. We
must put an end to this industry of suffering and death. Let’s
respect the mink!