Mink farming for fur raises serious welfare concerns due to the semi-aquatic predators being confined in wire cages, unable to express fundamental natural behaviors.
Mink are highly motivated to swim, hunt, explore, and range widely — none of which is possible in standard farm cage systems. Research documents high rates of stereotypic pacing, self-mutilation, and infanticide on fur farms, indicating severe welfare compromise. Mink show persistent attempts to access water for swimming, and the deprivation of this behavior is associated with frustration and distress. The solitary housing of naturally semi-territorial animals, combined with inability to perform predatory or exploratory behaviors, creates conditions that most welfare scientists consider incompatible with good welfare. Fur bans have been enacted in over a dozen countries based on these welfare assessments.