The Banning of Mink Farming in Ireland: The Legislative Framework for the Protection of Animals in Captivity

Mink farming in Ireland dates to the early 1950s. Ireland’s mild climate was observed as being well suited to produce good quality pelts. A survey conducted in 1960 found that 40 individuals were engaged in mink farming. By the early 2000s, there were six mink farms in Ireland, however, that number had reduced to five by 2012 and to three by 2014. In November 2012, the then Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food spoke of the contribution of mink farms to the Irish economy which employed 62 people and was worth €5 million to the Exchequer. Instead of phasing out mink farming, the five mink farms were granted temporary 12-month licences to give the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food time to introduce new regulations. By 2014, the number of employees had almost doubled to 120 and the contribution to the Exchequer had increased threefold. The animal welfare concerns surrounding animals in captivity, while raised for many years by proponents of animal welfare and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA), were bolstered by Veterinary Ireland’s call for the immediate on the farming of mink (and similar wild animals) for the production of fur. Veterinary Ireland was influenced by The Case Against Fur Factory Farming: A Scientific Review of Animal Welfare Standards and ‘WelFur’ which was published in 2015. It found that, in Ireland, 200,000 farmed mink were killed for fur production in 2014. Veterinary Ireland in its Policy Document on Fur Farming 2018 expressed its ‘significant concern…for the welfare of wild animals in captivity’.

As part of the 2020 Irish Programme for Government, a commitment was made to ‘immediately’ prioritise the drafting of legislation for the phasing out of fur-farming. In keeping with its commitment, the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 was enacted. In 2022 as the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 had reached the final stage in the Senate (Seanad), three mink farms remained in operation in the counties of Kerry, Donegal and Laois. It was estimated in 2022, that 110,000 mink were bred and killed for their pelt across the three farms.

The 2022 Act inserts Part 12A before Part 13 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, with the title Prohibition on Fur or Skin Farming. Under the inserted Part 12A, section 71B of the amended 2013 Act, provides that there is a prohibition on the breeding, rearing or keeping of specified animals solely or primarily for the value of, or the manufacture of products from, their fur or skin. Section 71D provides for a system of compensation to persons who held licences under the Musk Rats Act 1933. Section 71C introduces supplementary provisions in relation to the seizure under section 38 of specified animals. Sections 1 to 8 of the 2022 Act, which includes the prohibition on fur farming, came into force by way of a commencement order on 9 December 2022.

This presentation will discuss the background to the 2022 Act, the provisions of the Act in relation to the banning of mink farming in Ireland and will conclude by examining the impact of the Act.