Introduction:

         More than a billion rabbits and 50 million other species, such as foxes, seals, mink, and raccoon dogs, are grown on fur farms or captured in the wild and murdered for their pelts each year. Fur is sometimes mislabeled as "fake" since much of it is imported from China and other countries with lax regulations. Depending on the size of the garment, up to 100 animals may be slaughtered.

Purpose:

         This petition's purpose is to protect animals from harm and cruelty of human beings. Not just to protect the animals, but also to warn humans about the health risks that it might cause us.

Description:

        Animals bred for their fur, such as foxes, rabbits, raccoon dogs, and mink, spend their whole lives in cramped, barren wire cages. Unable to express their basic natural behaviours such as digging, roaming large territories and, for semi-aquatic mink, swimming and diving, these naturally active and curious animals have been shown to display the stereotypical behaviour of mental distress such as repeated pacing and circling inside their cages. Animals in such tight spaces are more likely to self-mutilate and fight with their cage companions.

           Animals undergo unspeakable agony and misery as a result of the fur industry's abuse. These battery cage systems not only inflict great animal misery, but they have also been shown to pose a major public-health threat. The cramped conditions, poor hygiene, stress, injuries and disease, minimal veterinary care, and lack of genetic diversity all mean that fur farms create ideal conditions for viruses to be both transmitted and to mutate, creating new strains.

          Hundreds of mink farms have been found to have animals infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in countries such as the Netherlands, the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, France, Greece, Spain, Lithuania, and Canada. The virus has already mutated into new strains on Danish farms, causing people to become infected.
Experts in disease prevention have expressed grave worries, including the European Centre for Disease Control, which claimed in a November study that the virus's evolution in mink could compromise the efficacy of future human vaccines. “Continued transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in mink farms may eventually give rise to other variations of concern,” the researchers said.

         Governments cannot just slaughter millions of animals and then allow farmers to resume normal operations in the face of this disaster. Fur farms are a ticking time bomb for pandemic illness risk due to their awful circumstances.Experts on disease transmission warn that if we continue to keep animals in situations that drive them beyond their physical and psychological limits, another terrible virus will emerge sooner rather than later.

           Twenty countries have already taken steps to prohibit the cruel, antiquated, and needless practice of raising animals for their fur. In light of growing evidence that fur farms can serve as both a reservoir for lethal viruses and a source of new ones. FUR FARMS MUST BE ABOLISHED! CRUELTY TO ANIMALS MUST STOP!