One Voice v. mink farm in Montarlot: victory!
The decree issued by the Prefect of Haute-Saône in December 2017 authorising the breeder to increase the capacity of his fur farm from 2000 to 7700 animals has been set aside.
The hearing held on 13 October in the Administrative Court of Besançon resulted in a victory for us: authorisation to expand the farm in Montarlot issued by the prefecture of Haute-Saône was withdrawn. Now is not the time to expand but for the last four fur farms in France to be closed down immediately. Living in a cage, being gassed for the ‘needs’ of the fashion industry or because of a pandemic … Not even one more mink must be born on these fur farms.
The decree issued by the Prefect of Haute-Saône in December 2017 authorising the breeder to increase the capacity of his fur farm from 2000 to 7700 animals was set aside. The submissions of the French Association of Mink Farmers were deemed to be inadmissible.
A timely decision
In addition to the evidence that we gave to the court, showing that the prefectoral decree was not in compliance, now is a good time to close down these fur farms, in France as elsewhere.
«I have asked the relevant departments of the Ministry to inspect all the farms in France where American mink are bred. I shall take the necessary steps if failures or irregularities are found.»Barbara Pompili, the Minister of Ecology, responding to our concerns about mink farms in France in a letter dated 27 October
Mink on fur farms worldwide are victims of Covid19 too and the virus mutates in them, risking making any future vaccine ineffective in humans. Therefore urgent action must be taken before the problem arises in France.
We are delighted at this judgement and are looking forward to seeing all fur farms close down before the year is out. Political decisions must be acted upon, even if it means speeding up the timetable previously announced.