Denmark: Government stops breeding minks

The Danish government has decided not to apply for an exemption from the EU to farm mink. This means that breeding minks for fur will be banned from 2029 at the latest.

»A company should not be continued just because it has existed for a long time. It must also make sense for society, the economy and animals," explained the responsible animal protection minister, Christian Rabjerg Madsen, in a press release. The Danish government has chosen animal protection.

Denmark has long been the world's largest producer of mink fur. Before the corona pandemic, there were around 800 farms in the Scandinavian country where minks were bred. In 2020, there were fears that the minks would spread viral mutations and decided to kill up to 17 million animals. Breeding was then permitted again, but was only resumed by seven farms. This is now over due to an EU regulation that classifies the American mink as an invasive species and bans its breeding in Europe.

The Danish government voted against the corresponding regulation last summer. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency had originally announced that it would submit an application for a special program that would allow the farms to continue operating.

“Since the EU has decided to impose a ban, we are of the opinion that Denmark should not oppose it,” it now says.

The EU ban comes into force on August 7, 2027. After the ban comes into force, a transition period of two years applies until August 7, 2029.