Beliefs and Attitudes of British Residents about the Welfare of Fur-Farmed Species and the Import and Sale of Fur Products in the UK

Abstract

Around 100 million animals are killed annually for the global fur trade, with 85% reared on fur farms and 15% trapped in the wild. Fur farming is banned across the United Kingdom (UK) under the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000 in England and Wales and parallel legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Despite the farming bans, the import and sale of fur products to the UK have continued, largely due to European Union (EU) membership. The UK left the EU in 2020 and the British government is exploring a potential ban on the import and sale of fur post-Brexit. This paper reviews public surveys on attitudes to fur farming in the UK from 1997 to 2021. It then reports the results of an online questionnaire to investigate in greater depth the beliefs of UK residents (n = 326) about the welfare of animals used in fur production, knowledge of the legal context of the fur trade and attitudes toward a ban on the import and sale of fur in the UK. A large majority (86%) of respondents believed that fur-farmed animals do not experience a good life. Over four-fifths (83%) disagreed that it is morally acceptable for the UK government to ban fur farming and yet continue to import and sell fur from producers overseas, with over three-quarters (78%) supporting a legal ban on the import and sale of fur in the UK.

One health implications of fur farming

“…Despite the various fur farming-associated promotional messages and management initiatives, public disapproval for fur production methods largely persists due to the aforesaid problems. For example, in Finland, which has a long history of fur farming, a recent initiative showed strong public support calling on the government to ban commerce (Laatu, 2013), and a UK survey found that approximately four-fifths of respondents opposed the fur industry, and 78% supported a legal prohibition on fur farming (Halliday and McCulloch, 2022).…”

“…In terms of scale, fur farming involves approximately 85 to 100 million animals annually (Pluda, 2020;Halliday and McCulloch, 2022;Linzey and Linzey, 2022). In comparison, terrestrial livestock farming for protein consumption involves an estimated 74 billion animals annually (Our world in data, 2020).…”

“…Fur farming involves the captive-breeding, rearing, and killing of animals for their pelts, although byproducts include fur, skin, and meat (Gremmen, 2014;Halliday and McCulloch, 2022;Linzey and Linzey, 2022). Whilst 'farming' implies that animals are bred and raised within a closed-cycle system, the wild-capture of animals is also reported to constitute part of the supply chain (Gremmen, 2014); thus, the term 'farm' may be subject to broad use.…”

“…The global value of fur farming has been estimated at $40bn (ActAsia, 2019), and the industry directly employs around 60,000 people (Gremmen, 2014). Presently, fur farming may involve between 85 and 100 million animals per year (Pluda, 2020;Halliday and McCulloch, 2022;Linzey and Linzey, 2022), with the main production regions being Europe, the United States, and China (Gremmen, 2014).…”

“…Production, marketing, and consumption of fur has raised longstanding key concerns from nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and the surveyed public regarding, notably, animal welfare (Picket and Harris, 2015;ActAsia, 2019;Halliday and McCulloch, 2022), zoonoses and public health (Picket and Harris, 2015;ActAsia, 2019), environmental issues, carbon emissions and footprint (ActAsia, 2019), and ethics (Sun, 2013;Picket and Harris, 2015;Thubron, 2017;ActAsia, 2019;Gorbach, 2021;Arney, 2022;Linzey and Linzey, 2022). Leading NGOs, academics, and public opinion have called for the development and implementation of legislation to alleviate or, in particular, completely prohibit fur farming practices that involve harm to animals, people, and the environment (Laatu, 2013;Sun, 2013;Picket and Harris, 2015;ActAsia, 2019;Arney, 2022;Fur Free Alliance, 2020;Pluda, 2020).…”