Mink farming produces the majority of the worlds fur, but faces growing opposition based on animal welfare science showing severe psychological and physical suffering in captivity.
The welfare case against mink farming is among the most scientifically robust in the animal welfare field. Mink in cages have no outlet for their natural behaviors of swimming, hunting, and ranging over large territories. The high prevalence of stereotypic behaviors — repetitive pacing, swimming motions in absent water, and self-mutilation — in caged mink is documented across multiple independent research programs. These behaviors are behavioral indicators of chronic suffering. The mink are not domesticated — they retain the full behavioral repertoire of their wild counterparts, with all the frustration that captivity without natural outlet creates. The continued existence of mink farming represents a choice to cause systematic suffering for fashion.