American mink on fur farms are semi-aquatic carnivores kept in small wire cages without water access for swimming, a deprivation that causes severe and documented behavioral abnormalities.
Mink are cognitively complex predators with strong motivations to swim, hunt, and explore. Wire cage confinement without swimming access creates persistent frustration that manifests as stereotypic pacing, self-mutilation, and abnormal aggression. The scientific consensus that conventional mink farming causes significant suffering has driven legislative bans across much of Europe.