Bosnia and Herzegovina: Fur Farms Despite Ban
On 1 January 2018, a ban on fur farming came into force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yet as a proposal to extend the deadline until 2028 is being debated in parliament, fur farmers are simply carrying on.
Originally, the ban was part of the animal welfare law passed in 2009 and was set to come into force after a transitional period. Following several attempts to overturn the ban that have been made since 2016, the fur industry is now calling for an extension of the transitional period. The proposal has been under parliamentary deliberation since April 2017, but the process has not yet been concluded. As a result, the fur farming ban came into force at the beginning of January.
Fur farms continue to operate illegally
«Since the ban came into force on 1 January, the fur farms are operating illegally,» says Maida Sabeta, PETA campaigner and coordinator of the Anti-Fur Coalition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. «This unprecedented situation is without parallel both in Bosnia and around the world. The fur farmers can be penalised for continuing to run their farms, yet at the same time parliament is doing nothing to discourage them. There is supposed to be another vote in parliament, but the date is unknown. This situation is unacceptable.»
Europe-wide campaigns for fur farming bans
Campaigns for a ban on fur farming are taking place across Europe. In 2017, the German Bundestag passed a law that will lead to the closure of the remaining three farms due to stringent husbandry requirements — in Germany, operators have not even complied with the most minimal standards to date. The number of countries in which fur farming is legal is thus steadily declining: in recent years, bans on fur farming have been passed in the Netherlands, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and the Czech Republic. A fur farming ban is set to come into force in Serbia in 2019. Last year, the Flemish Minister for Animal Welfare announced that he would be calling for a fur farming ban in his region. In countries such as Austria, Great Britain, and Switzerland, there have been no farms for years due to bans or stringent husbandry requirements.
The Anti-Fur Coalition in Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of more than 30 animal and environmental protection organizations that have been working for several years to bring a fur farming ban into force in the country. More on the topic Animal rights and Hunting legislation on wildbeimwild.com.
