Norwegian Labour Party Votes to Shut Down Fur Industry

by Annie Hartnett · 2011-04-18 15:13:00 UTC
Topics:

In a major victory for animal lovers, members of the Norwegian Labour Party voted to shut down Norway's fur industry. According to Views and News from Norway, Popular Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg "will be under marching orders from his party members to urge fur farmers into other lines of work."

It may not be easy to get this through the coalition government, since the farmer-friendly Center Party is likely to support fur farmers. But if the Labour Party is successful, over 300 mink and fox farms will close their doors and open their cages.

The anti-fur sentiment has grown strong in Norway in the past few years. In 2009, an animal rights organization known as Network for Animal Freedom broadcast undercover footage filmed at fur farms on local television. Viewers were outraged by what they saw: animals living in filth, animals with open wounds left untreated, sometimes missing eyes or entire limbs.

At the time, Norwegian Minister of Food and Agriculture Lars Peder Brekk responded to these investigations, stating that the fur industry would lose political support if the fur farms didn't clean up their act. But in 2010, investigations discovered more of the same cruelty.

The recent vote shows that Norwegian politicians are keeping their word to remove support from the cruel operations. And it's a good thing, too: In 2009, the Norwegian government gave the fur industry over 40 million kroner, or over 7 million US dollars. This money could surely be better spent.

If other Norwegian political parties support the fur ban, Norway would be the first country in Scandinavia to ax the fur farming industry. This would be a huge step for a region of the world that has claimed that fur is an "integral part of Nordic culture and history." If Norway can put the animal cruelty in its past, then perhaps the other fur-producing Nordic countries will follow suit.

Sign our petition to tell all Norwegian political parties to support the ban on fur farms.

Photo Credit: qmnonic

Annie Hartnett is a writer and animal advocate who has worked for several wildlife rehabilitation centers and environmental programs.

RELATED PETITION

Tell the Norwegian Government: Support the Fur Farming Ban
SIGN PETITION
2,248 People
PREVIOUS STORY:
Progress! NYC Council Member Agrees to Sponsor Bill to Protect Carriage Horses
NEXT STORY:
Petitions Delivered Around the World for Release of Indonesian Circus Dolphins

COMMENTS (1)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.