COVID-19 Outbreak at Mink Farm Prompts Pamela Anderson Letter to Premier
Honorary PETA Director Calls for BC Fur Ban
For Immediate Release:
December 8, 2020
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
Following reports of a COVID-19 outbreak at a mink farm in British Columbia, Pamela Anderson—a Canadian citizen—sent a letter today on PETA’s behalf to the Premier of British Columbia John Horgan urging him to shut down all the fur factory farms in the province immediately.
She notes that minks used for fur in Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.S. have contracted the virus that causes COVID-19 from human workers—and filthy fur factory farms filled with sick animals jammed together in waste-filled cages are perfect breeding grounds for deadly diseases.
“The world is a much different place than it was even a few months ago,” writes Anderson. “No one, including minks, deserves to die of COVID-19, and I hope to hear that you will make the lifesaving decision to shut down British Columbia’s mink farms without delay.”
Anderson also recently urged Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to ban fur farming following reports that the country has killed millions of minks after a mutant strain of the novel coronavirus spread from minks to humans there.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
Anderson’s letter to Horgan follows.
December 8, 2020
The Honorable John Horgan
Premier of British Columbia
Dear Premier,
I hope this letter finds you well. Thank you for all that you’re doing to help keep my fellow Canadians safe during these uncertain times. In light of the news that there’s currently a COVID-19 outbreak on a mink farm in British Columbia, I’m writing to ask that you close down fur farms in the province immediately.
Minks on fur farms all over the world—including in Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.S.—have been infected with the novel coronavirus by workers, and Denmark started killing all 17 million minks on its fur farms after a mutant strain of the virus spread from minks to humans. As you can see in this PETA video of Canadian mink farms, minks are warehoused inside filthy, cramped wire cages amid their own waste. These stressed, injured, and often sick animals are so closely packed together that blood, urine, and excrement can easily contaminate adjacent cages. Not only are these conditions extremely cruel to animals, they also create a perfect breeding ground for deadly diseases.
Even before the pandemic, fur was a dying industry. In recent years, former fur-wearers, including Queen Elizabeth II, have had a change of heart and major fashion brands—including Chanel, Prada, Gucci, and Michael Kors—have ditched fur. More than a dozen countries around the world have shut down fur farms, and the world’s oldest and largest fur auction houses, North American Fur Auctions and Kopenhagen Fur, are exiting the industry.
The world is a much different place than it was even a few months ago. No one, including minks, deserves to die of COVID-19, and I hope to hear that you will make the lifesaving decision to shut down British Columbia’s mink farms without delay.
Respectfully yours,
Pamela Anderson
Honorary Director
PETA
