The animal protection organization NOAH delivered a bulging petition to the state agriculture ministry on Wednesday favouring a phase-out of fur farms in Norway. The petition was signed by around 143,000 Norwegians.
NOAH activists Siri Martinsen and Shabana Rehman ceremoniously handed the petition to Agriculture Minister Jon Georg Dale of the Progress Party. Dale is in the process of shaping a proposal for the future of the fur industry that will be presented to Parliament this autumn.
Dale wouldn’t reveal whether he’ll go along with long-standing proposals to shutter the industry after repeated reported of animal abuse, but he was clearly impressed by so many signatures. When the latest horrific findings of injured animals at a farm in Rogaland were reported last week, he called them “gruesome.”
Several other politicians within the conservative government parties have also emerged as advocates of making fur farms illegal. “For me, this is an ethical question,” Tina Bru, a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party, told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) last week. “After a lot of reflection, I have concluded that it’s not possible to ensure satisfactory animal welfare for the animals in this business.”
A long list of other Members of Parliament have reached the same conclusion, after farmers raising animals for fur have been given multiple chances to take better care of their animals. State inspectors from the food and animal safety authority Mattilsynet nonetheless continue to find badly injured animals in their small cages.
newsinenglish.no staff
