Seimas bans fur farming

Press release, 21 September 2023

The Seimas has adopted amendments to the Law on Welfare and Protection of Animals, thereby prohibiting the keeping, breeding, sale or any other transfer and killing of farmed fur animals for their fur. The amendments were adopted by 68 votes in favour, with 25 votes against and 15 abstentions.

The adopted ban will enter into force in 2027. In the meantime, a transitional period starting from 2024 will be introduced for fur farmers to receive compensation for the cessation of such activities.

In line with the amendments, only those undertakings which have registered their business by 1 January 2022 will receive compensation.

The amount of compensation for the termination of commercial activities will be EUR 3 per fur animal if the activities are terminated by 2025, with the compensation being reduced to EUR 2 per fur animal if the activities are terminated by 2026 and to EUR 1 if they are terminated by the end of 2027.

From 1 April 2024 until 31 December 2026, economic operators pursuing such commercial activities will also be entitled to receive a one-off compensation for the demolition of structures they have owned by the right of ownership, tearing down of installations, as well as clean up and disposal of waste. Compensation will also be provided to cover severance pay for redundancies.

The authors of the amendments maintain that currently fur farms cannot guarantee the welfare of animals kept in them. ‘The secret video footage obtained six months ago revealed to us the real treatment that animals, which were supposedly suffocated in gas chambers and deprived of their lives in a humane way, were subjected to. There was nothing humane about it. In fact, this was a sadistic and very cruel treatment of animals,’ said Aistė Gedvilienė, Chair of the Committee on Environment Protection. According to Ms Gedvilienė, the adoption of the ban marks a historic step towards ensuring animal welfare, thus indicating that Lithuania will no longer tolerate cruel treatment of animals.

Ieva Pakarklytė, Member of the Seimas, noted that fur farming had already been banned in as many as 20 European countries, three of which, namely, the neighbouring Latvia, Estonia and Germany, did not even pay any compensations. She pointed out that the main fur markets with the largest demand for fur are in Russia and China, while the demand for fur in the EU is decreasing every year. ‘I believe that as a state and society, as evidenced by the enormous involvement of civil society in this matter, we have achieved a certain level of maturity which compels us to discontinue the activities that cause pain and distress to other living creatures and are intended only for the satisfaction of non-essential needs of human beings,’ Ms Gedvilienė said.

Rimas Rudaitis, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]