The materials were taken in the spring of this year, when the activist worked for SIA Baltic Devon Mink in a mink farm in Iecava region.
The association emphasized that the study shows how mink are multiplied and slaughtered in a nursery.
The covert video footage shows violent caging of animals, beatings, the killing of mink in gas chambers, severely injured and sick animals left without veterinary assistance.
Representatives of the association also pointed out that many animals had genital inflammation from intensive mating and, according to Animal freedoms injured and sick animals are not provided with veterinary assistance on the farm.
Associations Animal freedom Manager Katrīna Kriegere commented that animal husbandry is a cruel and violent industry. It affects both animals and people working on farms.
“There is no room for such cruelty in modern society – it is not for nothing that the fur industry is already banned in most of Europe. We call on the Saeima to take action to end the torture of systemic animals in fur farms in Latvia,” Krīgere emphasized.
According to the information available on the FVS website, on January 4, 2021, nine fur farms were registered in Latvia, of which about 130,000 animals were kept in five housing.
It has already been reported that on June 2, the Estonian Railway Council adopted amendments to the Animal Protection Law and the Nature Protection Law, which provide for a ban on breeding and keeping animals solely or mainly for fur production.
The law provides for a transitional period, stipulating that permits for keeping minks and raccoon dogs issued until July 1, 2021 are valid until December 31, 2025, but from 2026, keeping these animals on farms will be prohibited.
In Europe, fur farming was first banned in Great Britain and Austria in 2000 and 2005, respectively. Since then, bans have also been imposed in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Serbia, Slovenia and northern Macedonia. In several other countries – Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Norway and Slovakia – the ban has been adopted but will enter into force after a transitional period.
Association “Animal Freedom” was registered in 2012. The aim of the association is to protect the rights of animals, the environment and the individual.
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