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129-462: The Lobster Liberation Front ( LLF ) is an animal rights campaign which first appeared on the coast of Dorset , England in 2004, later spreading to Wales and Scotland . Their methods include releasing lobsters in live storage and sabotaging lobster pots or fishing boats. The LLF consider boiling lobsters alive (the traditional method for cooking them) unacceptable and use direct action to prevent it. Their claim that lobsters, which possess

258-478: A brain-damaged human could not make moral judgments, moral judgments cannot be used as the distinguishing characteristic for determining who is awarded rights. Cohen writes that the test for moral judgment "is not a test to be administered to humans one by one", but should be applied to the capacity of members of the species in general. Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for

387-660: A central role in animal advocacy since the 19th century. The anti-vivisection movement in the 19th and early 20th century in England and the United States was largely run by women, including Frances Power Cobbe , Anna Kingsford , Lizzy Lind af Hageby and Caroline Earle White (1833–1916). Garner writes that 70 per cent of the membership of the Victoria Street Society (one of the anti-vivisection groups founded by Cobbe) were women, as were 70 per cent of

516-502: A fantasy, a world of escape. Scruton singled out Peter Singer , a prominent Australian philosopher and animal-rights activist, for criticism. He wrote that Singer's works, including Animal Liberation , "contain little or no philosophical argument. They derive their radical moral conclusions from a vacuous utilitarianism that counts the pain and pleasure of all living things as equally significant and that ignores just about everything that has been said in our philosophical tradition about

645-417: A feeding routine that allows for multiple distributions of feed a day will help keep feed fresh and encourage appetite. In July, all mink (including kits and adult breeders) are vaccinated to prevent diseases and promote health and welfare of the herd. Once August arrives, the skeletal growth of kits is complete and the subsequent growth of primarily fat begins. The growth of fur predominantly takes place during

774-406: A gradation or spectrum with other types of sentient rights, including human rights and the rights of conscious artificial intelligences (posthuman rights). According to sociologist David Nibert of Wittenberg University , the struggle for animal liberation must happen in tandem with a more generalized struggle against human oppression and exploitation under global capitalism . He says that under

903-589: A grade dictated by the attributes of their coat; this is valuable in determining which mink will be kept as breeding stock for next season. Fur quality, color, and body size are judged by the farmer or a professional grader. Fur grades are often used alongside size, weight, health history, parent reproductive success, litter size, and temperament to assess the quality and potential of each animal. The methods used to slaughter mink include neck breaking, electricity, carbon monoxide , carbon dioxide , nitrogen, argon, and lethal injection. The most common method of slaughter

1032-538: A hundred thousand dollar bounty leading to a conviction of the persons responsible. Undercover footage was also released by the ALF in 2015 of several Ontario area mink farms, showcasing injured animals and mink cages covered in feces and maggots. Animal rights organizations across the province have taken a wide array of actions to stop the fur trade, such as public protests and disruptions of fur fashion shows. In 2005, animals rights group The Swiss Animal Protection produced

1161-400: A legal ban on the activity effective within several years. The EU accounted for 63% of global mink production and 70% of fox production. Globally, the top fur producers were China and Finland . Denmark was also leading, accounting for approximately 28% of world mink fur production, until its government culled all of the farmers' stocks without legal authority in 2020. Finland is

1290-834: A legitimate sacrifice of interests can vary considerably. Certain forms of animal-rights activism, such as the destruction of fur farms and of animal laboratories by the Animal Liberation Front , have attracted criticism, including from within the animal-rights movement itself, and prompted the U.S. Congress to enact laws, including the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act , allowing the prosecution of this sort of activity as terrorism . The concept of moral rights for animals dates to Ancient India , with roots in early Jain and Hindu history, while Eastern, African, and Indigenous peoples also have rich traditions of animal protection. In

1419-510: A means to an end, a view that places him firmly in the abolitionist camp. His theory does not extend to all animals, but only to those that can be regarded as subjects-of-a-life. He argues that all normal mammals of at least one year of age would qualify: ... individuals are subjects-of-a-life if they have beliefs and desires; perception, memory, and a sense of the future, including their own future; an emotional life together with feelings of pleasure and pain; preference- and welfare-interests;

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1548-492: A mistake to portray animal rights activists as homogeneous." Even though around 90% of US adults regularly consume meat, almost half of them appear to support a ban on slaughterhouses: in Sentience Institute 's 2017 survey of 1,094 U.S. adults' attitudes toward animal farming, 49% "support a ban on factory farming, 47% support a ban on slaughterhouses, and 33% support a ban on animal farming". The 2017 survey

1677-440: A more egalitarian democratic socialist system, one that would "allow a more just and peaceful order to emerge" and be "characterized by economic democracy and a democratically controlled state and mass media", there would be "much greater potential to inform the public about vital global issues—and the potential for "campaigns to improve the lives of other animals" to be "more abolitionist in nature." Philosopher Steven Best of

1806-493: A nest of 50 × 50 cm and also have a water basin of at least 2 × 2 metres and 50 cm deep in which to swim. Farmers argue that 50 years ago, the animals were kept in large outdoor holding areas, with pools of water. However, such farms resulted in high disease rates for the animals and were not practical. Farmers claim that today's farmed animals only know farm life as they have been domesticated through over 100 of years of selective breeding. The methods used for slaughtering

1935-560: A number of factors, including the efforts of animal rights campaigners and the failure of designers to come up with exciting new lines. Since the turn of the millennium, however, sales worldwide have soared to record highs, fueled by radically new techniques for working with fur, and a sharp rise in disposable income in China and Russia. This growing demand has led to the development of extensive fur farming operations in China and Poland . During

2064-421: A particular situation". The idea that nonhuman animals are worthy of prima facie rights is to say that, in a sense, animals have rights that can be overridden by many other considerations, especially those conflicting a human's right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Garry supports his view arguing: ... if a nonhuman animal were to kill a human being in the U.S., it would have broken

2193-541: A patriarchal society: both are "the used"; the dominated, submissive " Other ". When the British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Thomas Taylor (1758–1835), a Cambridge philosopher, responded with an anonymous parody, A Vindication of the Rights of Brutes (1792), saying that Wollstonecraft's arguments for women's rights could be applied equally to animals,

2322-458: A phase-out ban on fur farming in Ireland with the finer details to be announced afterwards. Legislation banning fur farming in Ireland was brought into force on 4 April 2022, resulting in the closure of Ireland's three remaining fur farms. Fur farming of chinchillas and foxes is banned. Legislation to phase out mink fur farming (and thereby effectively all fur farming) by 2024 was approved by

2451-429: A philosophical context, a prima facie (Latin for "on the face of it" or "at first glance") right is one that appears to be applicable at first glance, but upon closer examination may be outweighed by other considerations. In his book Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory , Lawrence Hinman characterizes such rights as "the right is real but leaves open the question of whether it is applicable and overriding in

2580-479: A position he intended as reductio ad absurdum . In her works The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory (1990) and The Pornography of Meat (2004), Carol J. Adams focuses in particular on what she argues are the links between the oppression of women and that of non-human animals. Some transhumanists argue for animal rights, liberation, and "uplift" of animal consciousness into machines. Transhumanism also understands animal rights on

2709-498: A positive view of universal healthcare, favor reducing discrimination against African Americans, the LGBT community and undocumented immigrants, and expanding welfare to aid the poor. Two surveys found that attitudes towards animal rights tactics, such as direct action , are very diverse within the animal rights communities. Near half (50% and 39% in two surveys) of activists do not support direct action. One survey concluded "it would be

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2838-616: A prejudice as irrational as any other. They maintain that animals should not be viewed as property or used as food, clothing, entertainment, or beasts of burden merely because they are not human. Multiple cultural traditions around the world such as Jainism , Taoism , Hinduism , Buddhism , Shinto and Animism also espouse forms of animal rights. In parallel to the debate about moral rights, law schools in North America now often teach animal law , and several legal scholars, such as Steven M. Wise and Gary L. Francione , support

2967-460: A process of review in a subject commission. On 21 November 2014, the Estonian animal advocacy organization Loomus submitted a petition to ban fur farming in the country with a 10-year transition period with 10 000 signatures to the parliament. This was preceded by secretly filmed anonymous documentary footage being aired both online via YouTube and on Estonian National Television depicting

3096-484: A raccoon dog being skinned alive before being thrown onto a heap of carcasses. After the skinning it still had enough strength to lift its bloodied head and stare into the camera. A 2013 investigation by a Dalian-based Chinese animal welfare group reported similarly cruel practices at various fur farms in Liaoning province. The International Fur Federation  [ de ] found two fur workers who had appeared in

3225-509: A right to instigate parliamentarian law initiatives since 2012. The first citizens' initiative to gain enough signatures was that instituting a ban on fur farming. Some 70,000 citizens signed the initiative within the required time period in 2013. In a march to Parliament House, Helsinki on 18 June., four to five hundred people appealed to members of parliament to approve the citizens' initiative to ban fur farming. According to animal expert MSc Sesse Koivisto (wife of Ilkka Koivisto ex-director of

3354-411: A right to life, some control over their environment, company, play, and physical health. Stephen R. L. Clark , Mary Midgley , and Bernard Rollin also discuss animal rights in terms of animals being permitted to lead a life appropriate for their kind. Egalitarianism favors an equal distribution of happiness among all individuals, which makes the interests of the worse off more important than those of

3483-599: A rudimentary nervous system , can feel pain, is the subject of ongoing scientific debate. In March, the village of Worth Matravers , Dorset was targeted when the individuals twice wrecked a fisherman's boat and set lobsters free. The actions were reported to the Southern Animal Rights Coalition, sent anonymously by the LLF. Shortly following this action, £1,000 worth of damage was made in June when it

3612-446: A statement, outlining welfare practices it claimed to practice on its fur farms and calling the alleged practice of skinning animals alive "unimaginable." Swiss Animal Protection then published a 2009 video showing the skinning of raccoon dogs and other canids . The video showed them being beaten with sticks and thrown to the ground in an attempt to kill them before being hung from their rear legs and skinned alive. One investigator filmed

3741-687: A study on the economic significance of the industry from the Estonian University of Life Sciences published in 2016, which did not state the exact number of farms in existence but did outline that the mink and fox farms employed 74 full-time workers in 2014, with the majority concentrated in the largest factory in the Baltic States , in Karjaküla , near Tallinn . It also reported the chinchilla farms employed 20.5 full-time workers in 2014. The activists have voiced their concern about

3870-434: A time that is most beneficial for the mother and litter. Ranchers should ensure the kits are able to consume solid feed and drink water independently before they are ready for weaning. Very rapid growth takes place during the growth phase of the production cycle. For about 10–11 weeks, it is critical that the juvenile kits have access to adequate amounts of feed that is formulated to meet their nutritional needs. Maintaining

3999-543: A video alleging that fur-bearing animals – including the "Asiatic raccoon" ( raccoon dog ) – were being skinned while still alive in Shangcun Market. The China Fur Commission and China Leather Industry Association challenged the authenticity of the video, stating: "Pictures showing animals being skinned alive are obviously plotted. All those with common sense would not choose this slaughter method to attain fur." The government of Suning County, Hebei Province also issued

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4128-512: A view summarised by the philosopher Roger Scruton , who writes that only humans have duties, and therefore only humans have rights. Another argument, associated with the utilitarian tradition, maintains that animals may be used as resources so long as there is no unnecessary suffering; animals may have some moral standing, but any interests they have may be overridden in cases of comparatively greater gains to aggregate welfare made possible by their use, though what counts as "necessary" suffering or

4257-429: A worse outcome. There are a number of positions that can be defended from a consequentalist or deontologist perspective, including the capabilities approach , represented by Martha Nussbaum , and the egalitarian approach , which has been examined by Ingmar Persson and Peter Vallentyne . The capabilities approach focuses on what individuals require to fulfill their capabilities: Nussbaum (2006) argues that animals need

4386-451: A year. The kits are taken from their mothers at 4 weeks old and put in a nursery with other kits. After this, the mothers are kept separated from their kits, and they get put together only for feeding. When the kits are 7 to 8 weeks old, they are put in solitary cages, where they are kept for about 6–7 months, and are slaughtered after they have shed their winter fur. The rabbits are kept in bare wire mesh cages . A cage for one rabbit has

4515-497: Is a moral intuition of many, probably most, Americans. We realize that animals feel pain, and we think that to inflict pain without a reason is bad. Nothing of practical value is added by dressing up this intuition in the language of philosophy; much is lost when the intuition is made a stage in a logical argument. When kindness toward animals is levered into a duty of weighting the pains of animals and of people equally, bizarre vistas of social engineering are opened up. Roger Scruton ,

4644-858: Is by subjecting the animal to a chamber that contains carbon monoxide. Pelting takes place either on site or upon shipping the mink to an offsite operation. After pelting, mink bodies are typically sent for either incineration or rendering where they can be converted into bone and meat meal. The meat from most fur-bearers is not usually eaten by humans, therefore the carcasses will go on to become various products such as pet food , animal feed, organic compost, fertilizer, paint, and even tires. Carcasses sometimes go to animal sanctuaries, zoos, and aquariums to feed animals, and some end up as crab bait. Some biological supply companies offer preserved skinned carcasses of ranched mink for classroom dissection specimens as an alternative to cats or other domesticated mammals. Mink feces are used as organic crop fertiliser, and mink fat

4773-421: Is essential that management practices employ a feeding program that maintains a nutritional diet that is adequate for both male and female mink. A feeding program that encourages the removal of excess weight and an environment that facilitates an increase in exercise is important for good production and a successful whelp. Mink are usually fed once or twice a day during the growing season; on most farms they are fed

4902-492: Is exemplified by Peter Singer , and the latter by Tom Regan and Gary Francione . Their differences reflect a distinction philosophers draw between ethical theories that judge the rightness of an act by its consequences (consequentialism/teleological ethics, or utilitarianism), and those that focus on the principle behind the act, almost regardless of consequences (deontological ethics). Deontologists argue that there are acts we should never perform, even if failing to do so entails

5031-514: Is from animals caught in the wild. The most farmed fur-bearing animal is the mink (50 million annually), followed by the fox (about 4 million annually). Asiatic and Finnish raccoon and chinchilla are also farmed for their fur. As of 2008, 64 percent of fur farms were in Northern Europe, 11 percent in North America, and the rest were dispersed throughout the world, in countries such as Argentina and Russia. Mink have been farmed for fur in

5160-714: Is no longer economically viable). In 2006, approximately 170,000 mink and 300 foxes were harvested in the Republic of Ireland. Furs were exported from the Republic of Ireland to other EU member states or to countries in Asia and North America. In the Republic of Ireland, fur farms were monitored by the Department of Agriculture , and welfare standards of Ireland and the European Union were required to be adhered to at all times. In October 2009, there were discussions within

5289-581: Is often shortened by extending the daylight period by use of artificial lighting. Females give birth to 5–6 kits on average. Since kits are born altricial , the female spends most of her time in the nest boxes caring for them. Mink kits are fully dependent on the dam's milk and will nurse for the first four weeks of their life. Maternal care is essential to promote offspring survival and growth, particularly in American mink who give birth to altricial young. Ranchers should check them regularly to ensure all

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5418-418: Is right. "The holders of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty governing all, including themselves. In applying such rules, [they] ... must recognize possible conflicts between what is in their own interest and what is just. Only in a community of beings capable of self-restricting moral judgments can the concept of a right be correctly invoked." Cohen rejects Singer's argument that, since

5547-661: Is strictly regulated by law. The Finnish Furbreeders Association has developed its own national program of certification and animal health welfare that is tied to the ISO 9001 standard and monitored by the Det Norske Veritas . The fur animals are housed in shelter buildings or halls, where each animal has a specific place marked with a kit card. The Humane Society of the United States published videos in 2019 and 2021 showing minks with untreated wounds along with foxes with allegedly deformed feet, missing ears, or diseased eyes on

5676-537: Is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur . Most of the world's farmed fur was produced by European farmers . In 2018, there were 5,000 fur farms in the EU , located across 22 countries; these areas of production collectively accounted for 50% of the global production of farmed fur. However, by 2023 only 11 countries in the EU still farmed animals for fur, and three of these countries had issued

5805-462: Is the world's leading producer of fox pelts. In the United States, fox production is about 10,000 pelts , produced in about 10 states. Canada produces ten to fifteen times as many fox furs as the USA. The United States banned the import, export, and sale of products made from dog and cat fur in 2000. Italy, France, Denmark, Greece , Belgium, and Australia ban the import of domestic cat and dog fur but

5934-415: Is turned into oil to manufacture soap, face oils, cosmetics, and leather treatments. Methods used on fur farms to maximize profits are employed at the expense of the welfare of fur producing animals , though the exact scope of cruelty in the industry is hotly debated. As with other types of animal farming , living conditions of animals vary, and extreme cases are of much contention. According to PETA,

6063-854: The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection by Cobbe in London in 1898; the Animal Welfare Board of India by Rukmini Devi Arundale in 1962; and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , co-founded by Ingrid Newkirk in 1980. In the Netherlands, Marianne Thieme and Esther Ouwehand were elected to parliament in 2006 representing the Parliamentary group for Animals. The preponderance of women in

6192-530: The COVID-19 pandemic , mink turned out to be very susceptible to human–mink infection, sparking fears of widespread outbreaks and mutations in the mink farm populations of many countries that could in turn infect humans with different strains of the coronavirus, making it potentially immune for a COVID-19 vaccine . Several mink farms in the Netherlands have been entirely culled since June 2020, and in August 2020

6321-600: The Korkeasaari Zoo ) in Helsingin Sanomat in 2010, fur farming did not provide acceptable conditions for the animals. In order to stop the suffering of animals, she demanded a ban on fur farming in Helsingin Sanomat, as in some other countries. On 19 June 2013, the Finnish Parliament rejected the first citizens' initiative to ban fur farming. A positive development in the politics of Finland

6450-598: The Sharia . This recognition is based on both the Qur'an and the Hadith . The Qur'an contains many references to animals, detailing that they have souls, form communities, communicate with God, and worship Him in their own way. Muhammad forbade his followers to harm any animal and asked them to respect animals' rights. Nevertheless, Islam does allow eating of certain species of animals. According to Christianity , all animals, from

6579-755: The United Kingdom (since 2000), Austria (since 2005), Slovenia (effective 2015), Croatia (effective 2017), Luxembourg (effective 2018), the Czech Republic (effective 2019), the Netherlands (effective 2021), Republic of Ireland (effective 2022), Italy (effective June 2022), Malta (effective 2022), Belgium (effective across the country 2023), Slovakia (effective 2025), Norway (effective February 2025), Estonia (effective 2025), Lithuania (effective 2027) and Latvia (effective 2028). In Switzerland and Germany ,

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6708-498: The University of Texas at El Paso states that the animal liberation movement, as characterized by the Animal Liberation Front and its various offshoots, "is a significant threat to global capital." ... Animal liberation challenges large sectors of the capitalist economy by assailing corporate agriculture and pharmaceutical companies and their suppliers. Far from being irrelevant to social movements, animal rights can form

6837-423: The cruelty involved in animal trapping , and because of the widespread availability of inexpensive substitutes including natural fibers (such as cotton , hemp ) as well as synthetic fibers. In 1991, New York Times journalist John F. Burns described the American fur industry as "shrinking with no end in sight." Today, 85 percent of the fur clothing industry's pelts come from animals raised on farms. The rest

6966-596: The 1860s. Foxes were first raised on farms for fur in Prince Edward Island in Canada in 1895. Historically, the fur trade played an important economic role in the United States. Fur trappers explored and opened up large parts of North America, and the fashion for beaver hats led to intense competition for the raw materials. Starting in the latter half of the 20th century, producers and wearers of fur have been criticized by animal rights activists because of

7095-528: The 2009 video and through interviews as well as affidavits , alleged they were approached by two others to stage the cruelty. A 2018 Shanghaiist article noted that although it was more than likely some animals had been skinned alive in China, to extrapolate that all or most of the farms did this was wrong. In 2006, the State Forestry Administration (SFA) announced it was planning to offer training courses for fur farmers to improve

7224-938: The American Veterinary Medical Association's Report on Euthanasia which is used as a guideline for state departments of agriculture which have jurisdiction over all farms raising domesticated livestock, including mink. The white mink , a northern European breed, was introduced into Canada in 1968. Most mink production in Canada occurs in Nova Scotia which, with 116 licensed farms in 2016, generated revenues of nearly $ 54 million by contributing approximately 1.4 million pelts to global markets. That accounted for an average of half of all Canada's mink pelts. Production of black mink in particular has grown significantly since 2000, with emerging markets in Russia, China, and South Korea accounting for most of

7353-411: The British philosopher, argued that rights imply obligations. Every legal privilege, he wrote, imposes a burden on the one who does not possess that privilege: that is, "your right may be my duty." Scruton therefore regarded the emergence of the animal rights movement as "the strangest cultural shift within the liberal worldview", because the idea of rights and responsibilities is, he argued, distinctive to

7482-529: The Cartesian view of animals. Darwin noted the mental and emotional continuity between humans and animals, suggesting the possibility of animal suffering. The anti-vivisection movement emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, driven significantly by women. From the 1970s onward, growing scholarly and activist interest in animal treatment has aimed to raise awareness and reform laws to improve animal rights and human–animal relationships. For some

7611-645: The Law (1995) was the first extensive jurisprudential treatment of animal rights. In it, Francione compares the situation of animals to the treatment of slaves in the United States , where legislation existed that appeared to protect them while the courts ignored that the institution of slavery itself rendered the protection unenforceable. He offers as an example the United States Animal Welfare Act , which he describes as an example of symbolic legislation, intended to assuage public concern about

7740-567: The Seventh Circuit debated the issue of animal rights in 2001 with Peter Singer. Posner posits that his moral intuition tells him "that human beings prefer their own. If a dog threatens a human infant, even if it requires causing more pain to the dog to stop it, than the dog would have caused to the infant, then we favour the child. It would be monstrous to spare the dog." Singer challenges this by arguing that formerly unequal rights for gays, women, and certain races were justified using

7869-461: The US before 1989 were taught to ignore pain, he writes, and at least one major veterinary hospital in the 1960s did not stock narcotic analgesics for animal pain control. In his interactions with scientists, he was often asked to "prove" that animals are conscious, and to provide "scientifically acceptable" evidence that they could feel pain. Scientific publications have made it clear since the 1980s that

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7998-660: The United States for 130 years, though domestic demand for fur started to decline rapidly by the late 1980s. In 2010, the U.S. ranked fifth in production behind Denmark , China, the Netherlands, and Poland. Mink typically breed in March and give birth to their litters in May. Farmers vaccinate the young kits for botulism, distemper, enteritis, and, if needed, pneumonia. They are slaughtered in November and December. Methods for euthanizing animals on fur farms, as on all farms, are detailed in

8127-544: The Western world, Aristotle viewed animals as lacking reason and existing for human use, though other ancient philosophers believed animals deserved gentle treatment. Major religious traditions, chiefly Indian or Dharmic religions , opposed animal cruelty. While scholars like Descartes saw animals as unconscious automata and Kant denied direct duties to animals, Jeremy Bentham emphasized their capacity to suffer. The publications of Charles Darwin eventually eroded

8256-628: The ability to initiate action in pursuit of their desires and goals; a psychophysical identity over time; and an individual welfare in the sense that their experiential life fares well or ill for them, logically independently of their utility for others and logically independently of their being the object of anyone else's interests. Whereas Singer is primarily concerned with improving the treatment of animals and accepts that, in some hypothetical scenarios, individual animals might be used legitimately to further human or nonhuman ends, Regan believes we ought to treat nonhuman animals as we would humans. He applies

8385-554: The ability to suffer, nothing more, and once it is established that a being has interests, those interests must be given equal consideration. Singer quotes the English philosopher Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900): "The good of any one individual is of no more importance, from the point of view ... of the Universe, than the good of any other." Singer argues that equality of consideration is a prescription, not an assertion of fact: if

8514-630: The animal rights movement; indeed, the terms "animal protection" and "protectionism" are increasingly favored. His position in 1996 was that there is no animal rights movement in the United States. Mark Rowlands , professor of philosophy at the University of Florida, has proposed a contractarian approach, based on the original position and the veil of ignorance —a "state of nature" thought experiment that tests intuitions about justice and fairness—in John Rawls 's A Theory of Justice (1971). In

8643-609: The animals on farms and in the wild vary depending on the animal. For farmed mink, the American Veterinary Medical Association researches the best methods and publishes a report on the subject every 7 to 10 years. This report is used to guide state departments of agriculture which have jurisdiction over farm animals, including farm-raised mink. For those harvesting wild furs, biologists and wildlife managers dictate seasons, method of slaughter, and numbers of animals to be harvested. In Austria, six of

8772-531: The attitude of individuals regarding the treatment of animals and animal rights. These include gender, age, occupation, religion, and level of education. There has also been evidence to suggest that prior experience with pets may be a factor in people's attitudes. According to some studies, women are more likely to empathize with the cause of animal rights than men. A 1996 study suggested that factors that may partially explain this discrepancy include attitudes towards feminism and science, scientific literacy, and

8901-538: The basis for a broad coalition of progressive social groups and drive changes that strike at the heart of capitalist exploitation of animals, people and the earth. R. G. Frey , professor of philosophy at Bowling Green State University, is a preference utilitarian. In his early work, Interests and Rights (1980), Frey disagreed with Singer—who wrote in Animal Liberation (1975) that the interests of nonhuman animals must be given equal consideration when judging

9030-487: The basis of animal rights is in religion or animal worship (or in general nature worship ), with some religions banning killing any animal. In other religions animals are considered unclean . Hindu and Buddhist societies abandoned animal sacrifice and embraced vegetarianism from the 3rd century BCE. One of the most important sanctions of the Jain , Hindu, and Buddhist faiths is the concept of ahimsa , or refraining from

9159-452: The better off. Another approach, virtue ethics , holds that in considering how to act we should consider the character of the actor, and what kind of moral agents we should be. Rosalind Hursthouse has suggested an approach to animal rights based on virtue ethics. Mark Rowlands has proposed a contractarian approach. Nussbaum (2004) writes that utilitarianism, starting with Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill , has contributed more to

9288-403: The bias inherent in the study, which according to them by and large ignored ethical and environmental arguments, as a number of the experts in the study panel were found to have direct links to and vested interests in the fur industry. The commission is expected to formulate their opinion and vote whether the petition would move on to a law drafting phase and public discussion in the full quorum of

9417-499: The city of Vancouver have been using legal and illegal actions to protest selling fur such as vandalism, home demonstrations of fur shop owners, and organizing public protests. Canadian fur farms in the Province of Ontario have been repeatedly targeted by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Thousands of mink were freed from farms across the province during 2013 and 2015. The mink breeders association of Ontario responded by offering

9546-428: The conditions of the animals in 2012 (aired 2013) and 2014. The Estonian animal advocacy organization Loomus issued a comment after the airings of Estonian Public Broadcasting outlining the documented disregard animal welfare regulations and pointing out the numerous injuries of animals that were documented. The petition has since been under review in the commission of agricultural affairs. The commission procured

9675-399: The consequences of an act—on the grounds that animals have no interests. Frey argues that interests are dependent on desire, and that no desire can exist without a corresponding belief. Animals have no beliefs, because a belief state requires the ability to hold a second-order belief—a belief about the belief—which he argues requires language: "If someone were to say, e.g. 'The cat believes that

9804-516: The destruction of life. According to Buddhism, humans do not deserve preferential treatment over other living beings. The Dharmic interpretation of this doctrine prohibits the killing of any living being. These Indian religions' dharmic beliefs are reflected in the ancient Indian works of the Tolkāppiyam and Tirukkural , which contain passages that extend the idea of nonviolence to all living beings. In Islam, animal rights were recognized early by

9933-469: The door is locked,' then that person is holding, as I see it, that the cat holds the declarative sentence 'The door is locked' to be true; and I can see no reason whatever for crediting the cat or any other creature which lacks language, including human infants, with entertaining declarative sentences." Carl Cohen , professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, argues that rights holders must be able to distinguish between their own interests and what

10062-629: The end of 2012. PETA published a video in 2019 alleging that animals were "still suffering terribly" in Russian fur farms, with slaughter methods involving beating, decapitation while conscious, and prolonged electrocution. In July 2020, Spain culled 100,000 mink after a farm in the Aragon province was infected with COVID-19. As of November 2020, there were about 35 to 40 mink farms in Sweden, 10 of which had been infected with COVID-19. The government

10191-420: The end of the 19th century, chinchillas had become quite rare. In 1923, Mathias F. Chapman brought the eleven wild chinchillas he had captured to the U.S. for breeding. Only three of these were female. Empress Chinchilla is the breeders association for the chinchilla farmers, many of whom are based in the United States, including California. Empress Chinchilla runs a certification program for farmers. . Finland

10320-410: The equality of the sexes were based only on the idea that men and women were equally intelligent, we would have to abandon the practice of equal consideration if this were later found to be false. But the moral idea of equality does not depend on matters of fact such as intelligence, physical strength, or moral capacity. Equality therefore cannot be grounded on the outcome of scientific investigations into

10449-582: The extension of basic legal rights and personhood to non-human animals. The animals most often considered in arguments for personhood are hominids . Some animal-rights academics support this because it would break the species barrier, but others oppose it because it predicates moral value on mental complexity rather than on sentience alone. As of November 2019 , 29 countries had enacted bans on hominoid experimentation ; Argentina has granted captive orangutans basic human rights since 2014. Outside of primates , animal-rights discussions most often address

10578-449: The extent to which it satisfies the preferences (interests) of those affected. His position is that there is no reason not to give equal consideration to the interests of human and nonhumans, though his principle of equality does not require identical treatment. A mouse and a man both have an interest in not being kicked, and there are no moral or logical grounds for failing to accord those interests equal weight. Interests are predicated on

10707-437: The fall where it begins at the tail and continues up the back and to the head. Ranchers maintain a clean, healthy environment during this time by performing daily husbandry practices, this includes; cleaning nest boxes, removal of surrounding debris and manure from the barn, bedding the cages, and up-keeping the cleanliness of the facility and farming equipment. Ranchers are diligent toward creating an environment that prioritizes

10836-445: The farms. On 29 September 2020, Environment Minister Barbara Pompili announced that France's four remaining mink farms would be closed within the next 5 years. On 21 September 2023, Lithuanian parliament Seimas adopted a law banning fur farming by 2027. Owners of fur farms will be compensated, but the size of the compensations has been the subject of complaints from the business community. They will be paid 3 euros per animal in

10965-489: The female by providing ample aspen bedding in which she can create a nest. It is well known that female mink are highly motivated to perform maternal-related nest building during the majority of their gestation period, this is why providing an abundance of substrate to prepare a nest is crucial to maintain the animals welfare. Unnecessary stress and noises should be avoided so due to the sensitivity of female mink during late gestation. Gestation varies from 40 to 70 days, this time

11094-548: The first year, 2 euros per animal in the second year and one euro in the final year. The government will also compensate redundancy payments for farm workers and cover costs related to the demolition of buildings, the destruction of equipment and waste management. In the Republic of Ireland there were three fur farms in operation as of August 2014. These farms focused mainly on the trade of mink fur (some farms which previously used fox fur were winding down operation as such trade

11223-485: The floor space of about two shoe boxes. The mortality rate for caged Rex is 10–15%, mostly from respiratory disease . During this time of year, ranchers are primarily focused on bringing their selected mink into a good condition that is suitable for breeding. Mink are a monoestrous species that undergo delayed implantation when bred successfully, this means that the breeding season can be the most strenuous time of year both in terms of animal nutrition and human labor. It

11352-486: The fur farm were seized by animal welfare organizations and some were in such poor condition that they had to be euthanized. Following the S.P.C.A. investigation, this Quebec fur farm was raided by anonymous activists who set free thousands of animals. Video footage taken at fur farms in 2014 in British Columbia by the A.P.F.A. was described by the S.P.C.A. as "inherently inhumane". Animal rights activists in

11481-558: The human condition, and it makes no sense to spread them beyond our own species. He accused animal rights advocates of "pre-scientific" anthropomorphism , attributing traits to animals that are, he says, Beatrix Potter -like, where "only man is vile." It is within this fiction that the appeal of animal rights lies, he argued. The world of animals is non-judgmental, filled with dogs who return our affection almost no matter what we do to them, and cats who pretend to be affectionate when, in fact, they care only about themselves. It is, he argued,

11610-406: The intelligence of nonhumans. All that matters is whether they can suffer. Commentators on all sides of the debate now accept that animals suffer and feel pain, although it was not always so. Bernard Rollin , professor of philosophy, animal sciences, and biomedical sciences at Colorado State University, writes that Descartes's influence continued to be felt until the 1980s. Veterinarians trained in

11739-402: The kits are warm, receiving enough milk, and are growing well. Females can lose significant body condition during lactation so their health is monitored by visual observations of behavior, appearance, and feed consumption. Weaning takes place when the kits reach approximately 6–8 weeks old. The changes that take place during weaning can be stressful for both dam and kits therefore is done at

11868-479: The largest United States supplier of fox pelts. The United States is a major exporter of fur skins. Major export markets include China, Russia , Canada , and the EU. Exports to Asia as a share of total exports grew from 22% in 1998 to 47% in 2002. As of 2012, Russia was reported to be the world's biggest sales market for fur. China has been the world's largest importer of fur pelts and the largest exporter of finished fur products. Fur farming has been banned in

11997-591: The laws of the land and would probably get rougher sanctions than if it were a human. My point is that like laws govern all who interact within a society, rights are to be applied to all beings who interact within that society. This is not to say these rights endowed by humans are equivalent to those held by nonhuman animals, but rather that if humans possess rights then so must all those who interact with humans. In sum, Garry suggests that humans have obligations to nonhuman animals; animals do not, and ought not to, have uninfringible rights against humans. Women have played

12126-473: The living conditions of fur animals. Legislation was drafted in September 2009 to address any cruelty to animals in China. If passed, the legislation would regulate how farm animals are raised, transported, and slaughtered. Estonian citizens have a partial right to submit initiatives with at least 1000 signatures to the parliament since 2014. They do not directly go to the parliamentary hall but go through

12255-521: The majority of fur farmers pack animals into small cages, preventing them from taking more than a few steps back and forth. PETA claims foxes and other animals suffer as a result of the confined environment, and may even cannibalize each other as a reaction to their confinement. In other cases, as with passing of animal welfare legislation in Italy, animals are required to be given enriched living environments in which they can climb on branches, dig holes, use

12384-473: The majority of researchers do believe animals suffer and feel pain, though it continues to be argued that their suffering may be reduced by an inability to experience the same dread of anticipation as humans or to remember the suffering as vividly. The ability of animals to suffer, even it may vary in severity, is the basis for Singer's application of equal consideration. The problem of animal suffering, and animal consciousness in general, arose primarily because it

12513-666: The membership of the British RSPCA in 1900. The modern animal advocacy movement has a similar representation of women. They are not invariably in leadership positions: during the March for Animals in Washington, D.C., in 1990—the largest animal rights demonstration held until then in the United States—most of the participants were women, but most of the platform speakers were men. Nevertheless, several influential animal advocacy groups have been founded by women, including

12642-434: The mistreatment of animals, and in many countries there are laws that seem to reflect those concerns, "in practice the legal system allows any use of animals, however abhorrent." The law only requires that any suffering not be "unnecessary". In deciding what counts as "unnecessary", an animal's interests are weighed against the interests of human beings, and the latter almost always prevail. Francione's Animals, Property, and

12771-690: The moral rights of humans are based on their possession of certain cognitive abilities, and because these abilities are also possessed by at least some nonhuman animals, such animals must have the same moral rights as humans. Although only humans act as moral agents, both marginal-case humans, such as infants, and at least some nonhumans must have the status of "moral patients". Moral patients are unable to formulate moral principles, and as such are unable to do right or wrong, even though what they do may be beneficial or harmful. Only moral agents are able to engage in moral action. Animals for Regan have " intrinsic value " as subjects-of-a-life, and cannot be regarded as

12900-408: The movement has led to a body of academic literature exploring feminism and animal rights, such as feminism and vegetarianism or veganism , the oppression of women and animals, and the male association of women and animals with nature and emotion, rather than reason—an association that several feminist writers have embraced. Lori Gruen writes that women and animals serve the same symbolic function in

13029-600: The new demand. Black mink was first bred in Nova Scotia in the late 1950s and has proven popular as a versatile colour. Most Nova Scotia fur product is sold in China where it is manufactured into luxury garments. The international trade in chinchilla fur goes back to the 16th century and the animal (whose name literally means "Little Chincha") is named after the Chincha people of the Andes , who wore its soft, dense fur. By

13158-632: The nine federal states have banned fur farming, and the remaining three enforce such strict welfare regulations, in relation to the availability of swimming water, that fur farming is no longer economically viable. In 2014, for the first time in Canadian history, a Quebec fur farmer by the name of Jean-Luc Rodier was charged with animal cruelty following an investigation by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (S.P.C.A.). Fox and mink at

13287-415: The original position, individuals choose principles of justice (what kind of society to form, and how primary social goods will be distributed), unaware of their individual characteristics—their race, sex, class, or intelligence, whether they are able-bodied or disabled, rich or poor—and therefore unaware of which role they will assume in the society they are about to form. The idea is that, operating behind

13416-503: The parliament in the fall of 2016. On 22 August 2016, activists launched an additional international petition inviting the Estonian Parliament to ban fur farming in the country at change.org. Estonian parliament banned fur farms on 2 June 2021. There is a transitional period that permits keeping mink and raccoon dogs in farms until the end of 2025 if the permit was issued before 1 July 2021. Finnish citizens have had

13545-424: The phaseout of fur farming was accelerated from 1 January 2024 to 1 March 2021. In July 2020, Spain culled 100,000 mink. On 6 November 2020, Denmark announced it would cull its entire 17 million mink population as an emergency to prevent the spread of a mutated strain of COVID-19, of which at least five cases were found. On 11 November, the Netherlands again moved the phase-out forward, now putting 1 January 2021 as

13674-434: The political sphere on the banning of fur farms in the Republic of Ireland. Animal welfare groups welcomed such proposals, though concern was highlighted, in terms of its impact on rural communities where alternative industries are scarce. Fur farming in the Republic of Ireland contributed about €15 million per year to the economy as of 2014. A ban was subsequently passed before being overturned by Minister for Agriculture at

13803-453: The presence of a greater emphasis on "nurturance or compassion" among women. A common misconception on the concept of animal rights is that its proponents want to grant non-human animals the exact same legal rights as humans, such as the right to vote . This is not the case, as the concept is that animals should have rights with equal consideration to their interests (for example, cats do not have any interest in voting, so they should not have

13932-415: The real distinction between persons and animals." Tom Regan countered this view of rights by distinguishing moral agents and moral patients. According to a paper published in 2000 by Harold Herzog and Lorna Dorr, previous academic surveys of attitudes towards animal rights have tended to suffer from small sample sizes and non-representative groups. However, a number of factors appear to correlate with

14061-407: The recognition of the moral status of animals than any other ethical theory. The utilitarian philosopher most associated with animal rights is Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University . Singer is not a rights theorist, but uses the language of rights to discuss how we ought to treat individuals. He is a preference utilitarian , meaning that he judges the rightness of an act by

14190-457: The regulations for fur farming are very strict, with the result that there are no fur farms. Denmark (2009), France (2020) and Hungary (2021) introduced a ban on fur farming of certain species, while Spain announced a plan in 2022 to close down all fur farms by 2030. Fur farming was not present as of 2023 in Portugal and Cyprus . Demand fell in the late 1980s and 1990s as a result of

14319-531: The respondents who were strong Christian fundamentalists and believers in creationism were less likely to advocate for animal rights than those who were less fundamentalist in their beliefs. The findings extended previous research, such as a 1992 study which found that 48% of animal rights activists were atheists or agnostic . A 2019 study in The Washington Post found that those who have positive attitudes toward animal rights also tend to have

14448-406: The right to vote). A 2016 study found that support for animal testing may not be based on cogent philosophical rationales, and more open debate is warranted. A 2007 survey to examine whether or not people who believed in evolution were more likely to support animal rights than creationists and believers in intelligent design found that this was largely the case—according to the researchers,

14577-470: The sale is still quasi-legal. In most countries, novelty items made from farmed cat and dog fur is available in the form of animal toys or as trim on garments like boots, jackets and handbags. The European Union banned imports in 2009. The main breed in the rabbit fur farming industry is the Rex (Castor Rex and Chinchilla Rex). Breeding animals are kept for up to three years, and usually give birth twice

14706-567: The same quantity of food on all cages and close to an ad libitum amount so that 50% of all cages have feed left over the next day. In addition to fur quality and production traits, breeder selection should concentrate on health and temperament (21) to improve the welfare of the herd. Breeding records are kept for each individual mink, this includes information on the dates of mating, genetics involving family lineage, reproductive success, health status, and fur characteristics. In preparation for whelping , comfortable conditions are prepared for

14835-635: The same set of intuitions. Posner replies that equality in civil rights did not occur because of ethical arguments, but because facts mounted that there were no morally significant differences between humans based on race, sex, or sexual orientation that would support inequality. If and when similar facts emerge about humans and animals, the differences in rights will erode too. But facts will drive equality, not ethical arguments that run contrary to instinct, he argues. Posner calls his approach "soft utilitarianism", in contrast to Singer's "hard utilitarianism". He argues: The "soft" utilitarian position on animal rights

14964-545: The smallest to the largest, are cared for and loved. According to the Bible, "All these animals waited for the Lord, that the Lord might give them food at the hour. The Lord gives them, they receive; The Lord opens his hand, and they are filled with good things." It further says God "gave food to the animals, and made the crows cry." The two main philosophical approaches to animal ethics are utilitarian and rights-based. The former

15093-410: The status of mammals (compare charismatic megafauna ). Other animals (considered less sentient) have gained less attention— insects relatively little (outside Jainism ) and animal-like bacteria hardly any. The vast majority of animals have no legally recognised rights. Critics of animal rights argue that nonhuman animals are unable to enter into a social contract , and thus cannot have rights,

15222-524: The strict Kantian ideal (which Kant himself applied only to humans) that they ought never to be sacrificed as a means to an end, and must be treated as ends in themselves. Gary Francione, professor of law and philosophy at Rutgers Law School in Newark, is a leading abolitionist writer, arguing that animals need only one right, the right not to be owned. Everything else would follow from that paradigm shift . He writes that, although most people would condemn

15351-458: The target date to limit the risk of mutation. Kopenhagen Fur (accounting for 40% of mink production worldwide) announced mid-November it would gradually cease operations in 2–3 years because the circumstances had critically undermined the future of the global fur trade. While wearing fur clothing in cold weather as protection goes back to the Stone Age, the source for this material came from

15480-604: The time Simon Coveney of Fine Gael after the party formed a new government following the 2011 election. A renewed campaign and efforts to push the Irish government or current Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to re-implement a phase-out ban took place from 2018 to 2019. Following the introduction of the Solidarity party's 'Prohibition of Fur Farming Bill 2018', the government gave in to political and public pressure and agreed conclusively through Minister Creed to implement

15609-492: The treatment of animals, but difficult to implement. He argues that a focus on animal welfare, rather than animal rights, may worsen the position of animals by making the public feel comfortable about using them and entrenching the view of them as property. He calls animal rights groups who pursue animal welfare issues, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , the " new welfarists ", arguing that they have more in common with 19th-century animal protectionists than with

15738-578: The veil of ignorance, they will choose a social contract in which there is basic fairness and justice for them no matter the position they occupy. Rawls did not include species membership as one of the attributes hidden from the decision-makers in the original position. Rowlands proposes extending the veil of ignorance to include rationality, which he argues is an undeserved property similar to characteristics including race, sex and intelligence. American philosopher Timothy Garry has proposed an approach that deems nonhuman animals worthy of prima facie rights. In

15867-402: The welfare of each animal and allows them to live and function comfortably within their environment. Mink are carefully evaluated in November or early December in order to physically assess their coat color, characteristics, and quality. Fur quality, along with skin size are two of the most important traits that are under intense selection in most mink breeding programs. Each mink will be given

15996-643: The wild. As human populations grew, furs, leathers , and hides for use in clothing came from farm stock, such as sheep (sheepskin), rabbits, cattle, pigs, and goats. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of red fox breeding in the late Iron Age on Orkney , off the northern coast of Scotland. After the attack of the Vikings in Scotland around 800 CE, the breeding is said to have stopped. The earliest records of breeding mink for fur in North America were in

16125-699: Was argued that animals have no language . Singer writes that, if language were needed to communicate pain, it would often be impossible to know when humans are in pain, though we can observe pain behavior and make a calculated guess based on it. He argues that there is no reason to suppose that the pain behavior of nonhumans would have a different meaning from the pain behavior of humans. Tom Regan, professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, argues in The Case for Animal Rights (1983) that nonhuman animals are what he calls "subjects-of-a-life", and as such are bearers of rights. He writes that, because

16254-467: Was not planning any culling as of 9 November 2020, but animal rights group Djurens Rätt was advocating for one in order to minimise the risk of a mutation that could compromise a COVID-19 vaccine. After a long campaign of daily protests, an act of parliament was introduced to ban the farming of animals for their fur. Fur farmers were given compensation in England and Wales in 2000. At second reading ,

16383-639: Was presumed activists targeted a fisherman's potts in Cardigan and in Crymych , Wales . A large number of lobster fishermen's pots were damaged in Stranraer , Scotland , with graffiti left at the scene indicating the group had carried out the attacks. Animal rights Many advocates of animal rights oppose the assignment of moral value and fundamental protections on the basis of species membership alone. They consider this idea, known as speciesism ,

16512-881: Was replicated by researchers at the Oklahoma State University , who found similar results: 73% of respondents answered "yes" to the question "Were you aware that slaughterhouses are where livestock are killed and processed into meat, such that, without them, you would not be able to consume meat?" In the U.S., many public protest slaughters were held in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the National Farmers Organization . Protesting low prices for meat, farmers killed their animals in front of media representatives. The carcasses were wasted and not eaten. This effort backfired because it angered television audiences to see animals needlessly and wastefully killed. Fur farming Fur farming

16641-521: Was that the initiative was taken in the Parliament for public voting. In Finland in August 2016, there were about 950 active fur farms. The breeding of fur-animals has had a long tradition in Finland, having been professionally conducted since the 1920s. Up to 90% of the fur-farming community is situated in the rural areas of Ostrobothnia and employs four to six thousand people. Today, fur farming

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