End the now in order to prevent future pandemics, some of the world's leading health experts will warn today - speaking out on what they called a ticking time bomb.
Filthy fur farms packed full of sick, distressed are potential breeding grounds for deadly new viruses that can jump from animals to humans.
Five years ago the was brought to its knees by Covid-19. Now a new warning is being made about the public health risks associated with the cruel and unnecessary fur farming and the danger of disease spillover, in a boost to the ’s Free Fur Britain campaign.
While nations continue to negotiate the Pandemic Agreement at the World Health Organisation, MPs gathered in Parliament today will be told “clear evidence that fur farming poses a significant risk of zoonotic disease emergence.
Scientists say the stress of being held captive damages animals' immune systems and increases the scale of "virus shedding", putting us all at risk of zoonotic diseases - those spreading from animals to humans.
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Dr Hope Ferdowsian, University of New Mexico School of Medicine will urge MPs:“ To prevent future outbreaks and pandemics, and for the sake of public health we must end fur farming and trade now.” She will be joined by Dr Jakob Zinsstag, University of Basel, who is also a One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) member, will speak out to sound the alarm on the ticking time bomb that is the fur trade.
He said: “There is clear evidence that fur farming poses a significant risk of zoonotic disease emergence and as part of efforts to prevent the next pandemic, we must move away from high-risk practices such as intensive fur farming and activities which support them.
"COVID-19 was identified on almost 500 fur farms during the pandemic and governments in the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark acted as a result to end the practice of fur farming. Governments including the UK have a responsibility to improve animal health and welfare to prevent the next pandemic and I am pleased to see British Parliamentarians coming together to recognise the connection between our treatment of animals and public health. By supporting the One Health approach we can have global synergy to tackle the nexus between human, animal and environmental health.”
Earlier this year, a study of animals farmed for fur in also identified 39 viruses classed as "potentially high-risk" for transmission to humans. There were at least 422 Covid outbreaks at 289 European and North American mink farms from last April 2020 to February 2021. The UK shut its last fur farm in 2003 but it has imported pelts worth over €900m since. Now a Bill is being debated by Parliament which could ensure that the UK is once again a world leader by supporting a ban on the import and sale of fur.
Labour MP Ruth Jones plans to use her Private Member's Bill so British legislation would "shut up shop on the cruel and unnecessary fur trade". Tens of millions of animals suffer and die annually in the global fur trade, with most reared in small cages on fur farms. HMRC files show almost £40million of fur was imported to the UK in 2023 from countries including China, Finland, Spain, Italy and France.
Sonul Badiani-Hamment, FOUR PAWS UK Country Director said: “Five years ago, the world was on the brink of the COVID-19 pandemic. The deep connection between animal and human health had previously been neglected, but 2020 made it impossible to ignore and highlighted the urgent need for us to review how humans treat animals.
"When animals suffer, we suffer. Now, global public health experts are uniting in condemning fur farming and in outlining its deadly risk to public health. We hope that Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum will hear this evidence and join the movement for a Fur Free Britain. Not only is fur an affront to public morality, but it is also a grave risk to public health, and we must end all involvement with the trade by banning the import and sale of fur in this country.”
Speaking at the event, sponsor of the Fur (Import and Sale) Bill Ruth Jones MP for Newport West and Islwyn added: "The fur trade is cruel and unnecessary, and the British public are rightly opposed to it. Today's statements from public health experts remind us animal welfare is inextricably linked to human health.
"The Covid-19 pandemic took a devastating and lasting toll on our country and we should do all we can to prevent the spread and mutation of disease. I hope my fellow MPs will heed these warnings and back my Bill to end the UK's involvement in a trade that is not only outdated but dangerous."
Claire Bass, Senior Director of Campaigns and Public Affairs for Humane World for Animals UK said: “Every day that the fur trade keeps animals locked up in barren cages as fashion victims increases the risk that stressed and diseased animals will become the source of a deadly pandemic.
"Virologists’ warnings couldn’t be more clear, so it’s incredibly worrying that Governments globally are not in a much greater hurry to end this deadly trade. We’re grateful to MPs amplifying calls for the UK Government to back the Bill for a Fur Free Britain and end the UK’s complicity in this cruel, dangerous and unnecessary trade.”
