Bulgaria: Fight Against American Mink Farms

The legal proceedings were initiated in 2022, a few months after the Minister of Environment and Water issued a ban on the import and breeding of the American mink, which is farmed for its fur.

This non-native species can have a negative impact on biodiversity and may even drive some native animal species to extinction: a view supported by more than 100 scientists and experts who submitted statements in support of the mink ban during the course of the proceedings, writes the Bulgarian animal protection organisation.

The mink farm that challenged this ruling has a breeding capacity of approximately 130’000 American mink. Over the years of its operation, more than 100 mink have escaped — and those are only the official figures. The disruption caused is far-reaching: there have been complaints about mink attacks on domestic animals, about the impact of this invasive species on native habitats, and about mink travelling up to 30 km from the point of their initial escape.

Mink Farms Are a Disaster for Animal Welfare

Fur farms have also drawn public outrage due to the cruel conditions in which the animals are raised and killed.

Mink are kept in cramped and filthy wire cages and, in order to preserve the integrity of their fur, are killed in gas chambers. The unacceptability of these conditions is shared by a large number of European citizens. Over 1.5 million signatures have been collected for the ECI “Fur Free Europe,” which now awaits a response from the European Commission.

In 2021, the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food reported a series of biosecurity violations, inadequate hygienic conditions, decomposing animal carcasses, and minks that had escaped from their cages during an inspection of the aforementioned mink farm.

We welcome the entirely fair decision of the court to reject the mink breeders' appeal. In recent years, scientists have demonstrated that the invasive nature of the American mink poses a serious threat to local biodiversity. Furthermore, the American mink is the species in which a significant susceptibility to infection with various zoonoses has been identified.

You can help all animals and our planet with compassion. Choose empathy on your plate and in your glass. Go vegan.