War on fur: Europe considers banning the farming and sale of animal fur

A "fur free Europe" is promised by a brand-new European Union initiative that could come into force early next year. Still in the analysis stage, it puts more than 1,000 European farms at risk. Its shock wave could even reach the United States.

Leather shoes, leather belts, leather upholstery... all could be banned under the proposal. According to a statement from the bloc, the new regulation could range from the imposition of stricter rules to a total ban on the European market, both for own and imported products.

An official European Commission document explicitly specifies this possible influence beyond European borders as a "likely impacts": "In addition, banning imports or applying equivalent animal welfare requirements to imports could partially prevent the shifting of welfare problems to non-EU countries."

After collecting more than 1 million signatures in different countries of the bloc, the initiative is in the open stage of seeking opinions, like that of Spanish citizen Ricardo Fritsch Martín: "A Europe without animal pelts is an aberration."

"Most of the animals slaughtered are first for the food industry. And the treatment of these skins is necessary to avoid an increase in waste, and also to avoid the disaster that would mean the end of a flourishing industry and of many jobs. The animals will still be slaughtered."

Fritsch Martin sums up the predominant opinion among the comments coming from Spain, 56% of those issued so far. "I don't think that the use of the pelts of slaughtered animals for the production of leather goods, shoes, belts, etc. should be banned," wrote, also from Spain, an anonymous commenter. "What are we going to wear, Chinese shoes made of plastics of dubious hygiene????"

Comments in favor included one from the Material Innovation Initiative (MII), an activist organization based in Napa, Calif. "We strongly support this proposed ban," it reads, "This action is essential to address critical animal welfare violations, environmental degradation, public health risks, and to foster innovation in sustainable materials."

In its "What Makes Fur, Fur?" (2024) report on the animal fur industry, it notes that most countries with bans on fur farming are in Europe, the second largest global producer behind China. At the national level, in the United States, initiatives have not moved beyond the stage of legislative proposals.

In 2023, California became the first state to ban the sale of furs such as mink, marten, chinchilla, lynx, fox, rabbit and beaver. Municipalities spread across several states, such as Michigan, Florida and Colorado, also followed suit.

Organizations such as Humane World For Animals are trying to expand these bans across the country, the latter even with a "guide to ending fur sales in your city."