The Danish Fur Breeders Association estimates that two-thirds of this population is now dead.
At least 10 million Danish mink have already been slaughtered, after farmers acted on a government order which has since been retracted because it broke the law.
The plight of the animals, some of which were killed in such haste that there have been eyewitness reports of thousands of mink carcasses strewn across a public highway, provides a graphic reminder of the real consequences of a series of political missteps in Denmark. it could have global consequences.
The country is grappling with a new coronavirus mutation found in its mink population. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says the variant has the potential to derail efforts to develop a Covid vaccine. The only option left in Denmark, she says, is to slaughter its entire mink population of around 17 million animals.
The Danish Fur Breeders Association estimates that two-thirds of this population is now dead.
“It’s a terrible and difficult situation, with the industry shutting down all at once,” said Tage Pedersen, the group’s chairman. “There is no turning back … even if a few farmers survive one way or another, there is still no future. We can only survive if we have a large and strong business. “
Political struggle
Frederiksen’s handling of the crisis drew condemnation from a united parliament after mink farmers were ordered to slaughter their herds, including healthy animals. Frederiksen’s government said it was unaware that the decree required new legislation. An emergency bill requiring a three-quarters majority has since failed and the legislative process is now in limbo.
For mink farmers across the country, the damage already done is so great that many wonder if the industry will survive. In addition, the Frederiksen government, which still expects a standard bill to pass more than 50%, wants all Danish mink farming to be banned until 2022. This means that breeding animals will be wiped out, shutting down the industry.
As Denmark is embroiled in a domestic political battle, scientists fear the risk of mutations in mink is misunderstood.
The arrival of Covid-19 in Denmark has clearly “changed the game” for its mink farmers, Kare Molbak, the country’s leading epidemiologist, told the Politiken newspaper. Maintaining the industry now “represents far too high a national health risk,” he said.
“Mink is very easily infected with the coronavirus, and once it’s there it spreads at the speed of light,” he said. “We saw how it then spreads to humans. It makes it virtually impossible to manage the spread during a pandemic.”
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