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Minks in cages on a farm in Naestved: "Lots of susceptible animals in a very small space, which favors virus multiplication"
Photo:
Mads Claus Rasmussen / dpa
The time to turn fur into money was just around the corner for Denmark's mink breeders: By the end of November at the latest, the animals had acquired their fluffy winter fur, and the fur should begin.
But most animals won't even make it until then.
Many mink are killed earlier - and that could affect all populations across the country.
The minks are not made into coats or muffs, but burned.
Up to 17 million animals are said to be culled within one to two weeks.
This was ordered by the government of the country, which is just over five million people.
Many animals are already dead, while Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's social democratic cabinet is still frantically working on a law for this.
The head of government was forced to publicly apologize to the animal owners for the lack of a legal basis for the cull and is now under pressure.
The responsible minister, Mogens Jensen, is now open to not culling all the animals.
The situation is serious: A mutation of the novel coronavirus called "Cluster 5" had spread among the mink in Denmark and has already spread to people.
According to the plan, all healthy stocks should therefore be killed, not just those within a risk zone around farms with infected animals.
The concern behind it: A mutated version of the virus could weaken the effectiveness of a vaccine that the world is so desperately waiting for.
In some places in Jutland there is now fear of becoming a second Wuhan.
How did it come to this at all? What does the virus mean for the industry and why is the fur industry so important in Denmark at all?
The Scandinavian country has been preparing for years to satisfy the worldwide hunger for fur and is making a lot of money from it.
In 2013 the industry recorded a record turnover of 13 billion kroner (about 1.7 billion euros) and accounted for almost one percent of all Danish exports.
After pigs and cows, the mink is the third most important agricultural animal in the country.
Even when stricter rules for keeping fur animals came into force in Germany in 2017, Danish farmers and breeders were ready to take over the mink and chinchillas business, which became unprofitable in this country.
The neighboring country to the north rose to become the largest producer of mink fur in the world.
Fur fashion recently celebrated an amazing comeback thanks to thick fur on the hoods of winter parkas.
Sometimes bobbles and collars made from real animal fur are even cheaper than fake fur, some consumers buy them without knowing it.
While Gucci and Chanel took the oldest piece of clothing out of the program with publicity, the demand for fur rose rapidly in Russia and China with growing prosperity.
Denmark combines several location advantages to meet this growing demand.
The largely unregulated branch of the economy benefits from the extensive other animal husbandry in the country.
"The easy access to fresh feed from fishery and slaughterhouse waste is one of the main reasons for the settlement of the mink breeders and makes for a nice coat," says Henning Otte Hansen, agricultural economist at the University of Copenhagen. The cool Nordic climate also ensures one high quality of furs.
In addition, according to Hansen, there is decades of experience in breeding and with the genetic make-up of animals.
The Copenhagen Fur auction house, which is run by the breeders themselves, has been the world's most important transhipment point for fur with five auctions per year.
Hundreds of international dealers arrive every time.
99 percent of the skins are exported and sewn into clothing in China, Cambodia and Vietnam, among others.
There is also Danish fashion design.
Unlike in Germany, for example, the pressure from animal rights activists on the industry has so far been comparatively low.
Fur breeders in Denmark can count on the support of the population.
According to a survey by the research institute Megafon for the TV2 channel, 53 percent of Danes are in favor of continuing fur farming even after the corona crisis, only 34 percent are against it.
Except for the two small left-wing parties, the Unity List and SF, all parliamentary parties are behind the production.
And so the Danish debate on mink culling has so far been primarily about political responsibility and how and to what extent the breeders who have no business until at least 2022 should be compensated.
Motorists stock up on mink
The question of whether mink cultivation is still appropriate is very hesitant in the country.
While Austria, Norway and the Czech Republic have long forbidden the keeping of fur animals for ethical reasons, there is still cage after cage in Denmark.
There are different opinions about whether this is appropriate and justifiable.
While the animal welfare organization Peta speaks of a "hell for animals", researchers at the University of Aarhus believe that animal-friendly husbandry is possible - and have developed a seal of quality for mink breeding.
The industry association Danske Minkavlere even advertises fur as sustainable and proudly announces that the carcasses are still being used for fertilizer or biodiesel.
In other words: drivers also refuel animals.
In addition, according to the association, the animals mainly lived on waste.
And fur clothing can last for decades.
Opponents of fur, on the other hand, point to the use of chemicals in processing, to the changing fashion - and to the fact that only a small amount of fur is recycled if it is only about applications on clothing.
Regardless of how fur farming is ethically assessed, one thing is clear: When animals are kept in a confined space, germs and diseases can spread particularly quickly.
"In mink farms, SARS-CoV-2 encounters many susceptible animals in a very confined space, which favors virus replication and transmission to conspecifics," the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) for animal health reports on request.
"In addition, a high viral load (aerosols) can be assumed there, which may enable transmission to humans."
However, the Federal Research Institute also points out that humans entered the virus in their postures.
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Mink killed on a farm in Næstved: They lived on slaughterhouse waste
Photo:
Mads Claus Rasmussen / dpa
In the case of the mink, this is particularly problematic because the marten-like animals are very susceptible to the new coronavirus.
"The virus reproduces well in them and it is also efficiently passed on to conspecifics," as the FLI says.
The role of mink in the infection process was therefore already discussed in the Netherlands in May.
With consequences: The country is now prematurely withdrawing from mink breeding for good because of the corona infections.
The Danish mink breeders are not threatened with a permanent ban, but the future of the industry looks bleak.
"I think it's impossible to simply start up the industry again after a year and a half," says agricultural economist Hansen.
The breeding animals would also be killed now - and with them the gene pool for beautiful fur.
Hansen anticipates that the specialized feed factories will also close and that the farmers will have looked for other sources of income by then.
"I don't think the farmers want to start from scratch, especially given the risk of a new pandemic."
This is probably one of the reasons why Prime Minister Frederiksen expressed her "great sympathy" for the mink breeders: "Many of you are not only losing your livelihood, but also your life's work."
Mink companies recently posted losses
In addition, for many of the up to 6000 people in the Danish mink industry, the current corona outbreaks were only the toughest of many setbacks in the recent past.
For the past seven years, business on the strongly fluctuating and unregulated fur market had been much worse than in 2013. Overproduction meant that prices fell: instead of the equivalent of 70 euros seven years ago, breeders last received less than 30 euros per mink fur.
Many breeders have therefore already given up, there are now fewer than 1,000 farms - and they have recently made heavy losses.
For the first time in 2020, the breeders were looking forward to a good year.
However, many owners are now hurrying to kill the animals as quickly as possible.
If they manage to do it before a certain deadline, they will also receive a bonus of ten kroner per mink from the supervisory authority Fødevarestyrelsen.
Animal rights activists, however, complained about deficiencies in the hasty gassing of the animals and filed a complaint.
In the end, will Corona achieve what animal rights activists have not been able to do for decades - and will it end fur production?
Agricultural economist Hansen misses the global perspective in view of the cull in his country.
"The minks that are not bred in Denmark could then be kept in Poland, the Baltic States or China with at least similar problems," said the industry expert.
"From an economic point of view, it is regrettable that, despite the recent weaknesses, an industry that is basically still internationally competitive is being closed completely."
The Danish farmers' association Landbrug og Fødevarer already expects Chinese production to increase and warns of lower animal welfare standards there.
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