Mink farming for fur production raises serious welfare concerns. Understanding the conditions of farmed mink and the growing movement to ban fur farming informs consumer choices.
Farmed mink experience profound welfare deprivation in systems that are fundamentally incompatible with their behavioral needs. Mink are semi-aquatic, wide-ranging predators that naturally swim, dive, climb, and hunt across large territories. Wire cage confinement prevents virtually all natural behaviors. High rates of stereotypic behaviors including repeated circling, head weaving, and self-mutilation in farmed mink populations demonstrate severe psychological suffering. Despite this, mink fur production continues in many countries. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted additional concerns about mink farms as virus reservoirs, leading to mass cullings that caused enormous welfare impacts.