Sponsors of an initiative calling for an end to fur farming presented the initiative to Antti Linna, a division head at the Finnish Parliament, on Monday, 9 September 2024. The initiative urges the government to devise a plan for transitioning justly away from fur farming and setting up a support scheme for fur farmers giving up their livelihood. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)
- Next Article OP cuts house price forecast for this year, raises it for next year
A CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE calling for a just transition away from fur farming was submitted to the Finnish Parliament on Monday, 9 September.
The sponsors of the initiative propose that the government devise a national strategy for ending fur farming after a reasonable transition period and establishing a support scheme for fur farmers who give up on their livelihood.
Most EU member states have fully or partly banned fur farming.
Unveiled roughly a year ago, the initiative received a total of 102,561 valid statements of support from members of the public, comfortably exceeding the 50,000-statement limit for submitting a citizens’ initiative to parliament. A date for the preliminary parliamentary date on the initiative will be announced later.
The Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association (Fifur) last month published a survey indicating that public support for domestic fur farming is on the decline, with the share of respondents supporting the practice falling from 46 per cent in 2023 to 39 per cent in 2024.
YLE reminded last week that a total of 77 citizens’ initiatives have been submitted to lawmakers since the tool was adopted more than 10 years ago. Seven of them have been approved with or without amendments, while another six are presently pending.
Also the very first citizens’ initiative called for an end to fur farming.
Calls for prohibiting the practice intensified last summer in the wake of reports that bird-flu infections have been detected at 20 fur farms in Finland. Tens of thousands of animals were ultimately culled at the farms to prevent the highly pathogenic strain from spreading and mutating further, possibly into a form capable of infecting humans.
Heidi Kivekäs, the chief operating officer at Animalia, reminded at the time that communicable disease prevention is but one argument for banning the practice.
“Furs have been sold at a loss already for years, the industry’s export revenue has fallen sharply and fur farms have been constantly shutting down. The best solution for the farms, fur-farm entrepreneurs and preventing future pandemics is to discontinue fur farming altogether,” she stated.
Fifur has also come under criticism for exaggerating the employment, export and tax contributions of the industry. Statistics Finland revealed last year that the interest group has double-counted jobs in the industry by claiming that the industry directly employs almost 3,200 people. The interest group also dragged its feet correcting the exaggerated figures, according to a report by YLE.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
- Next Article OP cuts house price forecast for this year, raises it for next year
Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
