Thursday December 16, 2020 | VANCOUVER ISLAND, BC
by Kiley Verbowski | Island Social Trends | Mary P Brooke, editor
After eight workers on a Fraser Valley mink fur farm tested positive for COVID-19, the BC SPCA is calling for a moratorium on mink farming in British Columbia through an immediate suspension of all mink farm licenses.
Over 200 mink on the farm have died of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans.
The BC SPCA is calling on the B.C.’s Chief Veterinary Officer, the Provincial Health Officer, and Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries to immediately suspend all fur farm licenses.
Geoff Urton, BC SPCA’s general manager of strategy and innovation, says the moratorium is needed to reduce the risk of further disease spread in B.C. communities, including the risk to wild animals.
“Mink themselves also stand to suffer from SARS-CoV-2 as, unlike other animals who have contracted the virus and show little-to-no symptoms, mink can become sick and die when infected. At this time, the practice of mink farming is at odds with the Animal Health Act due to the close contact between farmed mink and farm staff.”
Urton notes that mink are permitted to be farmed in B.C. through exemptions to the provincial Wildlife Act’s prohibition on keeping of native wildlife, and that the cramped conditions of thousands of mink on farms creates dangerous conditions for the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
B.C.’s chief veterinarian has banned the movement of animals and materials, and Ministry of Agriculture staff report the animals will be cared for and fed until this outbreak is over. The plan respects the conditions of the quarantine and maintains worker and mink safety, according to a provincial government statement on Wednesday December 9.
During a routine inspection in September, the operators of the farm were found to be in compliance with all animal welfare and biosecurity standards.
Mink farms in Denmark were making headlines last month, and the first case of Sars-CoV-2 in a wild animal was recently traced to a mink in Utah.
“In addition to the threat to public health, the BC SPCA is deeply concerned about the suffering of thousands of mink raised on farms in BC,” says Urton.
Currently there are 13 mink farms in B.C., almost all of which are in the Fraser Valley, producing fur for international luxury markets.
