Why Is World’s Largest Fur Auction House Closing?

World’s largest fur auction house is shutting down, yes you heard it right. 

Kopenhagen Fur is the largest fur auction house in the world. Recently, they stated that they would be shutting down within the next two or three years. Kopenhagen Fur has been in business since 1930. 

Around 1,500 Danish fur farmers are the owners of this co-op company. It sells Danish animal pelts all over the world. Furthermore, they sold a whopping 24.8 million mink skins between the 2018 and 2019 fiscal year.

After the COVID-19 outbreak, many diagnoses were on mink farms in the USA, Spain, and the Netherlands. The Netherlands will thus be closing all of its mink farms by March of next year. Not only mink, but the Kopenhagen Fur also sold fox and karakul pelts. 

Now, there will be many questions arising like Why is Denmark culling mink in the first place?We are here to answer them all.

Why is Denmark culling mink?

PC: Apnews.com

They are the biggest producers of mink fur in the world. According to estimates, there are around 15 million minks in Denmark. They usually live on farms in the countryside. According to the prime minister of Denmark,Mette Frederiksen the minks are becoming a risk to public health. 

There are reports of a COVID-19 mutation, which is named Cluster 5, that passes from minks to us. Not only that, but 12 people have already contracted the virus. Thus, the government of Denmark said that the order is not made on a legal basis. Anyhow, they are still suggesting that the farmers should keep going with the culling of mink.

Will the mink fur trade now be over?

PC: Wwd.com/business-news

Although the Kopenhagen Fur will close by the next two or three years, the auction and sales will go on according to their plans in 2022 and 2023. They will be shutting down after that. They are gradually downsizing it to shut down the place in an organized manner.

According to the senior director of public affairs at the Humane Society International, this could be the end of the Denmark fur trade, considering the closing of the largest auction house and the COVID-19 mutations. Furthermore, she also said, "Fur farms are not only the cause of extreme and needless animal suffering, but they are also time bombs for deadly diseases."

According to the director's opinion, the government must compensate the farmers and shut the industry down for good. Instead, our focus must be on supporting farmers to switch to safe and viable livelihoods. There is no happy ending for the animals in the fur industry.

The US Centers for Disease Control say that 3/4th of the new disease outbreaks come from animals, which is why we cannot sit and wait for another outbreak to come from minks.

Is mink culling acceptable?

PC: Bbc.com/news

Numerous animal rights activists say that it is not acceptable to breed minks for fur. Similarly, disease outbreaks and mutations are a consequence of such practices. The animals are kept together in a confined space. It prohibits them from carrying out their natural behavior. All in all, it leads to schizophrenic synonyms like cannibalism.

The closing of farms will put a stop to the endless suffering and harm to the animals. Not only that, but the closing will also stop the disease outbreaks that come from animals.

According to the CEO of the Swedish Animal Rights Organization, it is a small sector, and we will be able to live without it, comprising the risk of a vaccine. Not only should we be shutting down mink farms, but we should put an end to all animals' culling. There is no treatment for sick animals, which is another welfare issue.

Final Words

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, many fashion houses put a ban on fur. Some of the major fashion brands that banned fur are Versace, Chanel, Gucci, and Prada. The head of Versace, in 2018, said that she does not want to kill animals for fashion because it does not seem right.

Many celebrities have come up to talk against the fur trade. Kim Kardashian announced the remake of her fur coats in faux. Even Queen Elizabeth II does not use fur anymore! 

Thus, the closing of the Kopenhagen Fur is just another blow to an industry that is already on the verge of its collapse.