Romania bans fur farming

Humane Society International/Europe (HSI/Europe) celebrates a monumental victory for animal protection in Romania on 22.10.2024.

At 12 noon local time (11 a.m. CET), the Romanian parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to ban the breeding of chinchillas and minks, the country's only two fur farming industries. This historic decision is the result of nearly two years of political debate and intensive campaigning by the international animal protection organisation HSI/Europe, its Romanian in-country team, and other animal protection groups. Romania thus becomes the 22nd country in Europe to ban fur farming. The organisation regards this as an important milestone in its global campaign to end the cruel breeding and killing of animals for fur fashion.

Andreea Roseti, Country Director of HSI/Europe in Romania, says: «We are absolutely delighted by this landmark decision in Romania. This legislative milestone represents an important development in Romanian animal protection and reflects the growing commitment of Romanian citizens to animal welfare. Animals are not commodities to be bred and killed for our fashion. We hope this law brings us one important step closer to an EU-wide ban on fur farming.»

Undercover investigation reveals shocking conditions

The origin of the legislative proposal is based on an undercover investigation by HSI/Europe from 2022, which exposed the cruel conditions on fur farms in Romania. The footage shows young chinchillas in small, dirty wire cages, killed in improvised gas chambers or by breaking their necks. The animal suffering in the fur industry is systematic and well documented.

After the Chamber of Deputies passed the bill today, the law will come into force following promulgation on 1 January 2027, prohibiting fur farming in Romania. HSI/Europe does not expect any delay in promulgation by President Klaus Iohannis and publication in the Official Gazette.

Germany sets the wrong signal

In contrast to the majority of EU member states, Germany has still not introduced a ban on fur farming. While no fur farms have been operating in Germany since 2019, this is due to increased animal welfare standards that have made fur farming unprofitable.

Sylvie Kremerskothen Gleason, Country Director of HSI/Europe in Germany, commented: «HSI/Europe is calling for a legally enshrined ban on fur farms in Germany as well, to ensure that wild animals are never again kept and killed for fur production in the future. This would also send a clear signal in favour of an EU-wide ban on fur farms. A failure of the EU ban would be a serious setback if, instead, only increased animal welfare standards modelled on the German example were introduced — standards that are difficult to verify in practice and leave numerous loopholes.»

Any kind of animal welfare standards for fur farming furthermore suggest that there is a “humane” practice of keeping and killing animals for fur production. Yet fur production is inherently not humane.

Facts about the fur industry

Ten million animals suffer and die every year in the global fur trade, most of them kept in barren battery cages on fur farms. Fur farming is now banned in 22 European countries. Mink on nearly 500 fur farms in 13 countries across Europe and North America were infected with COVID-19, and the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A(H5N1) has so far been detected on 72 fur farms. Millions of mink, Arctic foxes, red foxes and raccoon dogs have been culled for public health reasons. The animal rights movement is achieving increasing legislative success against the fur industry.

Ten fashion brands in Romania have committed to going fur-free after working with HSI/Europe. They join the nearly 1’600 fashion brands, retailers and designers in 25 countries worldwide that are part of the Fur Free Retailer programme, including Gucci, Moncler, Prada, Adidas, H&M and Zara.