Openness and transparency are key issues for the modern European fur-farming sector. An essential part of this transparency is information on the welfare status of fur-farmed animals.
As a leading member of the European Fur Breeders Association, Kopenhagen Fur strongly supports the WelFur Project on fur-farmed species, a new addition to the EU-funded Welfare Quality® Project. From 2004 to 2009, the Welfare Quality® Project.developed general principles and criteria for animal-welfare assessment at farm level: good feeding, good housing, good health and appropriate behaviour. Detailed welfare-assessment protocols have been published for cattle, pigs, laying hens and broiler chickens, firmly based on scientific findings.
Over the past 25 years, the welfare of the most important fur-farmed animals has been studied in depth, providing a scientific foundation for the application of the European Welfare Quality® project to fur-farmed animals
The main outcome of the WelFur Project, carried out in cooperation with over eight universities across Europe, will be welfare-assessment protocols for mink, fox and finn raccoon by the end of 2010. The implementation of these protocols on fur farms is expected to start in 2012.
