Mustelids and the pelt industry

Bit Brutal, but thanks for sharing! Definitely raises awareness.

This might be a naïve question but is fur farming any worse than meat farming? So long as the animals arnt being abused while they are alive how is it any different than cow or pig farming?

@DelacoursLangur Depends where you get your meat. Battery chickens come close, but when it comes to Mink farming I think it's even worse : they can't swim, they're in cages off the ground that are smaller than small, and they're cuter than chickens.

@Rayane Does how cute they are dictate their value somehow? I'm not arguing against better conditions on mink farms, I think animal farming conditions should be raised across the board. I just think that its rather hypocritical that some people (I'm not saying this is you) criticize the fur industry whilst simultaneously chowing down on pork from factory farms. The only reason I can find for why this is is as you say, they are cuter. Despite the pig being more intelligent.

My judgement on the matter is that fur farming is worse than meat farming. I don’t have an opinion on cuteness or anything similar, I just believe that meat farming is more resourceful. The meat that we farm benefits us with vitamin d3 whereas fur farming really doesn’t have to be animal fur, it could be any other material that we use. Fur farming wouldn’t be as bad if we ate the meat also, but I don’t think you can find much meat on a mink

@DelacoursLangur Well, I don't think fur farming is worse than meat farming, or other domesticated species farming for that matter as long as the animals are given proper case. But personally, I disagree with fur farming mostly because the animals involved, like the mink, aren't exactly domesticated species. There's also the potential issue of animals escaping and forming invasive populations. It's not like I'm completely against it, but it's more of a personal issue that I have with that kind of farming

@pangolin12 I get what your saying, but we dont exactly need meat to get protein and vitamins at this point with the technology we have. Humans could survive perfectly well on a cocktail of vitamins and soy protein, but we dont because we have the luxury of being able to eat meat and everything else we enjoy. Isnt a mink fur coat a luxury item just the same? My goal is not to defend the fur industry by any means, but I think its an interesting moral question to explore. I definitely agree with your point about consuming all parts of the animal however!

Im pretty sure the American Mink which is farmed is considered a domesticated animal.

@DelacoursLangur yes that’s a very good point. I don’t see the point in fur farming being with minks though, as meat farming usually involves larger animals like pigs and cows. I wouldn’t guess that minks have that much fur on them, so you’ll need a few to make a coat, unless you want a mink handkerchief

I think that fur farming should involve breeds of pig that have fur, so that bacon, pork etc. can be farmed too and nothing goes to waste