{"id":15658,"date":"2025-08-04T10:47:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/?p=15658"},"modified":"2025-08-21T11:54:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T19:54:32","slug":"the-biggest-victory-against-animal-cruelty-of-the-21st-century-explained-in-one-chart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/2025\/08\/04\/the-biggest-victory-against-animal-cruelty-of-the-21st-century-explained-in-one-chart\/","title":{"rendered":"The\u00a0biggest victory against animal cruelty of the 21st century, explained in one chart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>Global fur production has collapsed. Here\u2019s how it happened.
\nby Kenny Torrella<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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In just one decade, a longtime fashion mainstay has been relegated to the sidelines of both haute couture runways and bargain clothing racks: fur.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2014, over 140 million minks, foxes, chinchillas, and raccoon dogs \u2014 a small, fox-like East Asian species \u2014 around the world were farmed and killed for their fur. By 2024, that number plummeted to 20.5 million, according to an analysis from the nonprofit Humane World for Animals using data from governments and industry. (Disclosure: I worked at Humane World for Animals, formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States, from 2012 to 2017, but I didn\u2019t work on fur issues.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The data encompasses the vast majority of animals raised on fur farms, though it doesn\u2019t include the number of animals\u00a0painfully ensnared in traps<\/a>, which account for a small share of global fur production. It also doesn\u2019t include fur from rabbits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The rapid transformation represents a shift in the perception of fur from a luxury good that signals wealth and status to an\u00a0ethical faux pas<\/a>. It\u2019s perhaps the biggest animal welfare campaign success story of the 21st century, achieved by pressuring major fashion brands to drop fur from product lines and persuading lawmakers across Europe and elsewhere to ban the production and even sale of fur.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Covid-19 hastened Europe\u2019s move away from fur production, as mink \u2014 the species farmed for fur in the greatest numbers around the world \u2014 were found to be especially susceptible to the virus, and\u00a0mink-associated strains<\/a>\u00a0spilled back over to infect humans. Economic headwinds and shifting political dynamics in Russia and China, two of the world\u2019s biggest fur producers and consumers, helped change the course of the global industry, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The\u00a0outlook for billions of animals used by humans every year,<\/a>\u00a0in industries from meat production to scientific research, is largely bleak. But the fall of fur shows progress is possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The brutality of fur farming, briefly explained<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A lot of factors have contributed to the global decline in fur production, but there\u2019s a key reason why it was possible to make progress against the industry. It produces an unnecessary luxury product that is, unlike meat, financially out of reach for most people. And that it\u2019s so unnecessary makes its cruelty all the more horrific.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Animals farmed for fur are confined in tiny wire-bottom cages that are often stacked atop one another, causing feces and urine to fall through to the animals below them. Farms range in size from a few hundred, to a few thousand, to over 100,000 animals who are typically born in the spring and then slaughtered in the fall or winter. Mink are killed by carbon dioxide gassing, while foxes and raccoon dogs are\u00a0anally electrocuted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In Finland, some foxes \u2014 nicknamed \u201cmonster foxes\u201d \u2014 have been\u00a0selectively bred<\/a>\u00a0to have large folds of fat so they produce more fur, which causes a range of welfare issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A small fur farm in Poland with foxes and raccoon dogs.\u00a0Andrew Skowron\/We Animals<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mink crowded into a cage on a fur farm in Sweden.\u00a0Jo-Anne McArthur\/Djurrattsalliansen\/We Animals<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The conditions and practices are terrible enough, but fur farming is especially cruel considering that these are wild, non-domesticated species. In the wild, their home ranges encompass several square miles, but on fur farms, they barely have any room to move around at all, much less express natural behaviors. Mink are semi-aquatic animals, yet have no access to water on fur farms. They also prefer to be solitary, yet they\u2019re caged with other minks. Foxes, meanwhile, naturally burrow and create dens where they care for their young, but they can\u2019t do so in captivity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These bleak conditions cause the animals to engage in what are called \u201cstereotypical\u201d behaviors \u2014 repetitive motions that are a sign of stress. When caged, mink will pace or bob their heads \u2014 even\u00a0perform somersaults<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 while foxes might constantly scratch at the corner of their cages in a fruitless attempt to dig and burrow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019ve literally gone insane in these operations, because they\u2019re not fulfilling their natural behaviors,\u201d PJ Smith, director of fashion policy at Humane World For Animals, told me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How animal advocates \u2014 and shifting political and economic conditions \u2014 put fur out of fashion<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Today\u2019s animal rights movement is largely focused on cruelty to animals raised for meat, milk, and eggs. But in the 1980s and \u201990s, ending the fur industry was the cause du jour.\u00a0PETA put the issue on the cultural map<\/a>, stigmatizing fur by throwing fake blood on runways and recruiting A-list celebrities to wear next to nothing for its \u201cI\u2019d Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur\u201d campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 1991, The Go-Go\u2019s launched PETA\u2019s \u201cI\u2019d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur\u201d campaign.\u00a0Greg Gorman\/Courtesy of PETA<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The impact of that early advocacy, however, is hard to discern; Calvin Klein committed to going fur-free in 1994, while other brands resisted PETA\u2019s campaign. US fur sales declined from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, though it\u2019s unclear how much of that was\u00a0attributable to animal rights campaigning<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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By the late 1990s, animal advocates had largely moved on to other issues, while US fur sales began to recover. At the same time, China joined the World Trade Organization, which opened up its capacity to export fur, while the country\u2019s growing prosperity led it to become a major fur consumer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Fur production boomed, and fur trim became a popular lining for winter coat hoods. But some advocates maintained pressure against the industry, and in the 2000s, a few mid-level brands, like Ralph Lauren and J.Crew, went fur-free. Meanwhile, some European countries, including Croatia, Austria, and the United Kingdom, banned fur production. Terrifying undercover investigations into the fur trade \u2014 especially one video from a Chinese market in which\u00a0a raccoon dog is skinned alive<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 reignited occasional momentum on the issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the mid-2010s, Armani, NET-A-PORTER, and Hugo Boss committed to going fur-free. Before then, Smith told me, it was hard to get companies to take meetings with him. And then, everything changed when, in 2017, Gucci announced a fur-free policy.\u00a0After Gucci, other major brands followed<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 like Versace, Burberry, Prada, Chanel, and Michael Kors, to name a few. In 2019, California banned fur sales.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Around this same time, more countries in Europe banned fur production, which had become a trend that accelerated after Covid broke out. Research found that mink are\u00a0highly susceptible to the disease<\/a>, and evidence emerged that mink-adapted viruses have spilled back over to humans.\u00a0Economic downturns<\/a>\u00a0in Russia and China over the last decade,\u00a0European sanctions against Russia<\/a>\u00a0over the war in Ukraine, and\u00a0China\u2019s crackdown on corruption<\/a>\u00a0(furs had been a common gift to government officials) likely affected fur sales and production in those countries, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And as major fashion brands moved away from animal fur, faux fur got a lot better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Until the mid-2000s, \u201cfaux fur was this thing that was acrylic \u2014 it looked plastic. Not many people saw it as luxury,\u201d Smith told me. But the political and corporate progress created a \u201cgap in the marketplace,\u201d he said, which helped startups get funding to create better-looking, higher-quality alternatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Is the end of fur nigh?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That progress appears likely to continue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Switzerland<\/a>\u00a0just effectively banned fur imports, and\u00a0the UK<\/a>\u00a0is considering doing the same. In 2023, European activists delivered\u00a0over 1.5 million signatures<\/a>\u00a0in support of a ban on the production and sale of fur to the European Commission, which is currently weighing the measure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Last week, in a major boost for the effort, the EU\u2019s food safety agency issued a damning\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0on the welfare of fur-farmed animals. And earlier this month, the European Commission\u00a0listed the American mink<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 which was brought to Europe for fur production \u2014 as an invasive species, which will restrict mink breeding and sales in the EU.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Otto, a fox rescued from the fur farming industry stands on Piia Attonen\u2019s lap, awaiting a treat. Anttonen is the Director of Tuulisp\u00e4\u00e4 Animal Sanctuary in Finland, an organization that cares for and provides a home for many different kinds of farmed and companion animals.\u00a0Jo-Anne McArthur\/#unboundproject\/We Animals<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But there have also been recent setbacks. In 2019,\u00a0New York City considered a ban on fur sales<\/a>, but it didn\u2019t pass. Politicians in some of Europe\u2019s top fur-producing countries \u2014\u00a0Finland, Poland, and Greece<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 have resisted calls for fur bans, too. And there are some still\u00a0big-name fashion holdouts<\/a>, including Hermes and LVMH \u2014 the company behind Fendi, Dior, and Louis Vuitton.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In February, the New York Times reported on a\u00a0vibe shift<\/a>\u00a0around the stigma on wearing fur, though it\u2019s unclear whether that helped boost sales \u2014 the fashion world\u2019s focus has largely revolved around reclaiming vintage and used pelts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And despite the significant progress, 20.5 million animals in fur farms annually means there\u2019s still a lot of work to be done. Smith hopes that doesn\u2019t lead fellow animal advocates to become complacent and move on to other issues too soon, like what happened with fur in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe hardest part is going to be closing out an industry for good,\u201d said Smith. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be convincing those final fashion brands and retailers to move away from fur. And it\u2019s going to be the case that we need to make to legislators and policymakers that we need to implement policy change,\u201d he said, to \u201censure the future is fur-free once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Global fur production has collapsed. Here\u2019s how it happened. by Kenny Torrella In just one decade, a longtime fashion mainstay has been relegated to the sidelines of both haute couture runways and bargain clothing racks: fur. In 2014, over 140 million minks, foxes, chinchillas, and raccoon dogs \u2014 a small, fox-like East Asian species \u2014 … <\/p>\n

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