Every year, millions of minks suffer and die on fur farms for their pelts. These curious, playful wild animals are typically crowded into tiny cages with barely enough room to move, and they are overfed and overbred to maximize the size of their bodies and skins. Combined with the unsanitary conditions in which they are usually held, this becomes a recipe for disease and misery. Often at just one year old, these animals are killed in gas chambers, where investigations have documented minks struggling and gasping for air and, in some cases, still alive when removed for skinning, while others have recorded workers beating and stomping on animals.

The same conditions that cause so much suffering for these innocent animals have also turned mink farms into major vectors for disease. Minks are highly susceptible to Covid-19, which has killed tens of thousands of animals on individual farms, and the virus has mutated within mink populations and spread back to humans, creating new risks from a disease that has already killed millions of people worldwide.

Fur farms have also been linked to the spread of H5N1 bird flu. The virus was first detected on a mink farm in Galicia, Spain, in 2022, where it affected more than 50,000 minks and raised serious concerns about the virus spreading between mammals and potentially to humans. By 2024, H5N1 had been confirmed at more than 70 fur farms across Europe, leading to the culling of more than 500,000 animals. Because minks have respiratory tracts similar to those of humans, virologists warn that continued spread among them could allow the virus to become airborne and far more dangerous to people.

All of this cruelty and risk exists to serve the greed of the luxury fashion industry, and it has led many countries, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Italy, and Israel, to end or begin phasing out mink fur farming within their borders.

Fortunately, there are legislators in the US who also see mink fur farms for the archaic, cruel, disease-spreading institutions that they are. Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) introduced H.R.2185, the Mink: Vectors for Infection Risk in the United States Act (Mink VIRUS Act), which would end the practice of mink fur farming in the United States and would provide support for mink fur farmers to transition out of the industry to ensure they do not turn to illegal mink fur farming for money.

Along with the Humane Society Legislative Fund, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Born Free USA, and the Animal Welfare Institute, Species Unite is putting our support behind this important piece of legislation which has the potential to save the lives of millions of minks and help curb the spread of Covid-19, bird flu, and other deadly diseases.

Take Action Now

Please join Species Unite in urging Congress to pass the Mink VIRUS Act.