International: The Romanian Parliament votes for a ban of chinchilla and mink fur farming

On Tuesday 22 October 2024, the Romanian parliament voted in favour of a ban on the fur farming industry using chinchillas and minks. The ban is to take effect from 01.01.2027. Formally, the law must now be promulgated by the Romanian president and published in the Official Journal.

Around 12 existing fur farms are affected, including two large mink farms, which together produced around 100,000 mink pelts and around 150,000 chinchilla pelts per year.
The impetus for the legislative initiative and the vote in parliament was the work of animal rights activists, in particular the animal welfare organisation HSI (Human Society International). They had recently conducted an undercover investigation on Romanian fur farms and uncovered various animal welfare issues regarding the conditions of keeping animals on fur farms. According to surveys, a large part of Romanian society had recently spoken out in favour of an end to fur farming, and HSI was able to collect 74,000 signatures for a fur farm ban.

This makes Romania the 22nd European country to ban fur farming.

Fur farms have come under increasing criticism in recent years, not only from an animal welfare perspective but also from a One Health point of view, after the COVID-19 virus was found at multiple mink farms during the pandemic.