In voting to approve the America COMPETES Act, the U.S. House of Representatives included a provision to ban mink farming nationwide.
Wisconsin ranks first in the nation for the export of raw furskins, such as mink pelts.
In a release from animal rights groups — Animal Wellness Action, Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Foundation — the passage signals disapproval of the fur trade due to animal rights disputes and potential spread of disease, such as COVID-19.
The amendment was led by U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and cosponsored by Reps. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., Andy Levin, D-Mich., and Joe Neguse, D-Colo. It is a follow up to H.R. 4310, introduced by these same lawmakers and two dozen others from both parties, including Reps. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Lance Gooden, R-Texas, and Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.
“There’s nothing good about keeping aggressive and solitary wild mink in cages on factory farms, killing them for a product nobody needs, and then shipping their exteriors to luxury consumers in China,” says Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “The case against mink farming is clinched when one understands a new variant from one or more of these factory farms may disrupt our economy and put millions of Americans at risk.”
The amendment was approved as part of a larger bloc of amendments, including a separate measure to crack down globally on live wildlife markets because of infectious diseases risks.
The amendment was supported by Animal Wellness Action, the Animal Wellness Foundation, Center for a Humane Economy, the Michelson Center for Public Policy, SPCA International and dozens of other organizations, from the Idaho Humane Society to the Iowa Federation of Humane Societies to the Oregon League of Conservation Voters.
Valerie Zimbal, representing the Kettle Moraine Mink Breeders Association and her family’s mink farm in Sheboygan Falls, says the House passing a provision to ban mink farming nationwide is a huge shock. She encourages the ag industry to contact their senators to stop the provision from going further and prevent a domino effect that would end animal agriculture.
Listen to a previous story from the Mid-West Farm Report about Wisconsin’s mink industry: https://omny.fm/shows/mid-west-farm-report-madison/telling-the-fur-story
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