Sign our #FurFreeBritain petition to help end the cruel fur trade

A barren wire cage as a home, then a horrifying death. Please help us achieve a #FurFreeBritain by signing our petition.

Fur farms were - thankfully - banned more than 20 years ago in the UK, but there's still no law to stop fur from farms overseas from being imported into this country and sold here. We're determined to make that illegal. Will you help?

We want to end animals suffering and dying for fashion

raccoon dogs rspca fur free britain
Fur farms - where animals are bred in cages, then harvested for their fur - are often associated with sickening welfare conditions. We want to see an end to an industry where animals are suffering and dying for fashion.

The minks, foxes and other animals often live in cramped, barren cages, with little opportunity to exhibit natural behaviours or enjoy much quality of life. The animals may then be killed in horrific and inhumane ways, particularly in countries with no animal welfare laws, with profit coming way before any welfare concerns for these poor animals.

"It's a desperate life; confined in cramped, poorly maintained, barren wire cages"

Our Head of RSPCA International, Paul Littlefair, knows only too well the horrors of fur farms.

I've visited fox and raccoon dog fur farms in China and you can sense a cloud of misery over them. It's a desperate life; confined in cramped, poorly maintained, barren wire cages, with low-quality food and no stimulation.

Animals such as foxes and mink are omnivorous or carnivorous - their natural behaviour is to range over considerable distances in the wild to forage and hunt for food. Mink are also aquatic. Instead, their entire existence is spent in a tiny, wire cage. This is so cruel - their instincts and basic needs don't change even if they have been bred on a fur farm.

And perhaps even more distressing, when it's time for these animals to be slaughtered for their fur, in China, they're often clubbed to death and sometimes even skinned while still alive. In other parts of the world, mink are gassed to death, and foxes and raccoon dogs are electrocuted.

Breeding animals for fur is often a cruel and unnecessary business that should have no place in the modern world.

Mink fur farms have been linked to Covid-19

Over the past year, public health concerns have joined animal welfare as a reason why fur farming around the world should be shut down once and for all. A new EFSA report released this month, has now linked intensive mink production with Covid-19, triggering a call for European countries to immediately suspend the mink fur farm industry. So Covid-19 and the threats of future diseases passing from animals to humans present another compelling reason why it's time to end fur farming across the globe.

Here in the UK, part of the job has already been done but that's not the end of the story. There are no fur farms here, but, shamefully, the UK is still complicit in the continuation of the global fur market. We may not farm fur ourselves, but by allowing fur to be imported and sold here, we're still profiting from this cruel international trade.

That has to stop.

Please sign our petition to help make Fur Free Britain a reality

Our recently-unveiled ten-year strategy includes a goal to end global fur farming. That's a huge ambition, but we must start by getting our own house in order. It's just not good enough that the UK still allows fur to be imported and sold here - and the public agrees. 72% of people in the UK want a complete ban.

That's why we're supporting the 'Fur Free Britain' campaign, led by Humane Society International/UK. The aim is to persuade the UK government to ban fur imports and sales once and for all. And we'd like your help.