Mink

[johnnychips]

A long time ago, a mink coat was seen as a sign of success for a brash, vulgar woman who wanted to show off. Now, with animal activism and changing fashions, I thought those days had died. So why have Denmark - one country - so many mink?

Coronavirus: Calls in Denmark to dig up millions of dead mink

The hasty mass burial of animals infected with coronavirus was declared illegal.

www.bbc.co.uk

‘Opposition MPs in Denmark have urged the government to dig up millions of mink that were buried in mass graves amid Covid-19 fears.
The two burial sites in Jutland are highly controversial - one is near a bathing lake and the other not far from a source of drinking water.
The discovery of a mutated form of the virus prompted a cull of nearly 17 million mink, devastating the Danish fur industry - the largest in the EU. ‘

Being conservative, one hundred mink could make a coat, so is there a demand for 170 000 mink coats still?

EDIT: it apparently takes 50-60 mink to make a coat.

 

[Butts]

Despite their perceived protestations I doubt there are many women who would turn down a real Mink Coat if offered one. They could always pass it off as fake.

From a moral viewpoint what's the difference between a Mink Coat and a Leather one other than the animal it comes from ?

 

[Gloster]

There has also been the problem that the gases caused by decomposition has caused the top layer of dead mink in the trenches to force its way up through the covering of topsoil. They’re getting their revenge!

 

[GusB]

Despite their perceived protestations I doubt there are many women who would turn down a real Mink Coat if offered one. They could always pass it off as fake.

From a moral viewpoint what's the difference between a Mink Coat and a Leather one other than the animal it comes from ?

Really? I think the majority of the population are aware enough that keeping animals purely for their fur is probably not a nice thing to do. Mink are cute and seemingly cuddly animals after all; cows aren't so pretty

 

[Gloster]

I think a lot of people justify it by saying, to themselves at least, that we need cows for meat, milk, etc., so we might as well use their leather and not waste anything. (Some will probably add, ”I’m sure they’d prefer it that way. And, oh, isn’t that a nice jacket.”)

A friend who had a summer job on a Danish mink farm described them as vicious little blanks.

 

[Calthrop]

Have tried to resist, but failed: corny joke from a more fur-wearing-accepting era --

Q: How do girls get minks?

A: The same way that minks get minks.

 

[Chester1]

I don't think there are any Mink farms left in the UK so this would be a good opportunity for us to ban Mink farming and import of Mink fur. The UK used to have Mink farming and their escape has made voles endangered and significantly reduced the otter population. The government has started a program to eradicate them from the UK.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

The UK used to have Mink farming and their escape has made voles endangered and significantly reduced the otter population. The government has started a program to eradicate them from the UK.

Yes, exactly! (except I think that you meant to say Water Voles!) The only occasion that I clearly identified a Mink was curiously enough from a train - it had stopped at signals just north of Stafford and I followed a Mink cautiously moving through the reeds. I presume that area is some kind of reserve, having Mink there will seriously affect the local wildlife, I would assume.

 

[yorksrob]

I've been following this for a while, and saw it mentioned somewhere that Mink farming was banned in the UK in around 2003.

One thing I'm definitely glad that New Labour did, as it turns out.

When I was being educated in the late 1980's/early1990's, the fur industry was definately seen as cruel and outmoded. Fur coats seemed to be a nouveau riche thing to be looked down upon even then, so I can only imagine the industry would have been for export.

 

[ainsworth74]

From a moral viewpoint what's the difference between a Mink Coat and a Leather one other than the animal it comes from ?

Not a lot which is why we should be moving away from real leather as well...

 

[najaB]

From a moral viewpoint what's the difference between a Mink Coat and a Leather one other than the animal it comes from ?

Not a lot which is why we should be moving away from real leather as well...

Only if you hold the view that we shouldn't eat beef at all since most leather is a by-product of the meat industry.

And if we move away from leather, what is going to replace it - plastics? I was given a leather belt for my 15th (or 16th) birthday, I only stopped using it somewhere around my 35th birthday. I'm yet to have a synthetic belt last me more than a year or two.

That, by the way is the moral difference - mink are raised only for their fur, and usually in cages. Cattle, on the other hand, is raised for other purposes and (in the UK at least) is free-range so the animals have a quality life.

 

[Chester1]

Yes, exactly! (except I think that you meant to say Water Voles!) The only occasion that I clearly identified a Mink was curiously enough from a train - it had stopped at signals just north of Stafford and I followed a Mink cautiously moving through the reeds. I presume that area is some kind of reserve, having Mink there will seriously affect the local wildlife, I would assume.

They are being targeted anywhere with Water Voles, which have dropped by 94% since Mink became established in the wild in the UK in the 1950s. Eventually they will probably be eradicated across the UK but that could take decades at the current rate. There are captive breeding and release programs to introduce Voles to their former range. Most notably 200 will be released into the Thames. Accidental release of animals can be advantageous. Beaver farming for fur and Wild Boar farming for high end meat are why those species are in the process of re-establishing themselves in the UK.

I've been following this for a while, and saw it mentioned somewhere that Mink farming was banned in the UK in around 2003.

One thing I'm definitely glad that New Labour did, as it turns out.

When I was being educated in the late 1980's/early1990's, the fur industry was definately seen as cruel and outmoded. Fur coats seemed to be a nouveau riche thing to be looked down upon even then, so I can only imagine the industry would have been for export.

I didn't know that! Good to hear!

 

[Butts]

Were the poor little blighters gassed ?

Perhaps they will rise from the dead and wreak havoc on the local population as vengeance for their untimely demise - Night of the Living Mink

I assume there must be a demand for Mink Coats in some Countries as the Industry was worth £600 Million.

 

[Gloster]

The mink are still getting their revenge. The bodies buried in trenches at Holstebro and Karup are believed to be starting to polute the ground water. They have also ‘lost’ (unable to account for) 1.5 million bodies (4,700 tonnes), although these have probably been buried in the trenches.