Norway Announces Total Ban on Fur Farming

The Norwegian Animal Rights Organization (NOAH), who have long fought for the rights of animals, announced today that Norway will unroll a total ban on fur farming. According to a rough translation of their post, they’ve been at this fight for over 30 years and have much to celebrate now — though, they’re hardly interested in resting now.

The ban, they say, will be finalized in 2025, when all farms in the country will be shut down. It’s unclear, at the moment, how this will affect the sale of fur (whether Norway intends simply to stop producing it).

Camilla Björkbom, chairman of the Animal Society Right, explained the importance of this decision, especially when comparing to their neighboring countries.

“We welcome the Swedish Government’s proposal to investigate the welfare of minkers on Sweden’s fur farms, but today we see that Norway shows that a ban on fur farming is possible. This is a great news, not least for all the animals that are now not born and killed for their fur in Norway, but also because it sets a good example for Sweden and the upcoming Swedish investigation.”

Norway is a large fur producer with over 300 fur farms, with farms breeding and killing over 700,000 minks and 110,000 foxes every year — simply for their fur. They’re far from the largest manufacturer (that’d be China) but they aren’t the smallest either.

“Norway is talking about today’s message to the growing number of countries in Europe who discontinue fur farming. By 2017, the Czech Republic and Germany have also decided to shut down fur farms,” said Björkbom. Both of the aforementioned countries banned fur farming in the beginning of 2017, setting a much needed precedent.

A 2025 end date may seem far off and, in many ways, can feel like less than the victory people would have hoped for. However, an end date in the distance is better a non-existent one, especially when just yesterday one did not exist and when so many other countries have yet to address this problem.

Life on fur farms is absolute hell. Thankfully, Norway has seen the light and will become one among many other countries that have stood up for animals. This information has been, largely, confirmed by activist websites, and because this is a developing story we will keep you updated when and if there is further confirmation.