On December 14th, eight months later from the date of issue, ULSS6 Euganea has implemented its order to cull mink from the Villa del Conte (Padua) farm, the second Italian farm with a confirmed outbreak of Coronavirus, which we reported on last February.
The killing of the 3,000 minks in Padua is an expected tragedy, putting an end to the agony of thousands of animals, which in the meantime have continued to survive in the cramped cages in which they have always been confined, exploited to produce their young for fur production.
The farmer had appealed against the culling order, but the Lazio Regional Administrative Court rejected it with a ruling issued on July 5th, but published only on September 13th. The Villa del Conte mink farm had also been the subject of a report for violation of biosecurity rules, with images released by LAV in November 2020, when the farm was still running at its full capacity (with over 10,000 minks).
This new massacre calls for strict industrial policies and choices that respond to principles of ethics and public health: with our campaign we have asked the Italian Government and Parliament to change the temporary stop to mink farming, which expires on 31 December, into a definitive ban on fur farming.
More than 50,000 people have already signed our petition, now we need political intervention!
Without government or parliamentary intervention, Italian mink farms will resume full operations from January 1st, continuing to exploit tens of thousands of animals for fur production and, at the same time, putting public health at risk.
We call on the Minister for Health, Roberto Speranza, to immediately intervene with a definitive ban on fur farming, and Parliament to support the amendment (no. 157.0.4 Sen. De Petris) to the Budget Law, and proposed by the LAV, for the dismantling and reconversion of the last five Italian mink farms.