AMSTERDAM: Dutch mink farms have begun a government-ordered cull amid concern that animals infected with the coronavirus could transmit the illness to humans.
Infected minks have been found on 10 Dutch farms where the ferret-like animals are bred for their fur, according to the country’s Food & Wares Authority.
“All mink breeding farms where there is an infection will be cleared, and farms where there are no infections won’t be,” said spokeswoman Frederique Hermie.
The government ordered the cull of 10,000 minks on Wednesday after determining that the affected farms could become a long-term reservoir of disease.
The animals were first infected with the coronavirus by their handlers in April. In May, the government identified two cases in which humans had been infected by sick animals — the only animal-to-human transmissions known since the global outbreak began in China.
The cull involves farm workers in protective clothing using gas on mink mothers and pups. The bodies will be sent to a disposal plant and the farms will be disinfected.
Groups opposed to the fur trade say the outbreak is another reason to close all fur farms.
“We are calling for the 24 countries around the world that still allow mink farming to very rapidly evaluate the situation and evidence coming out of the Netherlands,” said Clair Bass, executive director of the Humane Society International.
The group says China, Denmark and Poland are the largest mink producers, with 60 million killed annually for their fur.
According to the Dutch Federation of Pelt Farmers, there are 140 mink farms in the Netherlands, exporting about US$100 million worth of fur a year.
Federation spokesman Wim Verhagen said the cull was “very hard for farmers to accept” as few infected animals show visible signs of sickness. The government is compensating affected farmers.
The Dutch government earlier banned the transport of minks and made Covid-19 testing mandatory on all farms across the country.
In 2016, the top Dutch court ordered the closure of all mink farms by 2024.
The worldwide anti-fur movement has been slowly chipping away at the market for mink coats and related products, though the decline has not been as great as activists had hoped, say industry analysts.
Slovenia and Serbia last year passed legislation to ban all fur farming, joining the ranks of like-minded countries including Norway and the UK.
California, meanwhile, is the first US state to ban the sale and manufacture of all fur products.
The US department store chain Macy’s has also said it intends to stop selling real-fur products at all of its stores, including the flagship Bloomingdales, by the end of the current fiscal year.