Norwegian fur farmers are lashing out at political efforts to shut them down, and speculate over whether the poultry industry will be the next target.
“If they succeed at liquidating us, no one should rule out that the chicken ranchers will be the so-called animal rights activists’ next target,” an angry fur industry spokesman, Bertran Trane Skadsem, told newspaper Aftenposten.
He was reacting to a measure approved by the Labour Party at its national convention earlier this month, to phase out the fur industry in Norway. The industry has come under much criticism for its treatment of caged animals, not least after photos of injured and disturbed animals caught media attention last year. Norway’s major fashion industry event, Oslo Fashion Week, banned fur from its showings last winter.
The industry is now relying on Labour’s government coalition partner, the farmer-friendly Center Party, to stop any phase-out. Skadsem claimed there’s still a majority in Parliament in favour of protecting the fur industry .
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