LONDON—A cross-party group of 43 MPs and Peers has written to Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, highlighting new evidence that underscores the significant public health risk posed by fur farms, and stating their support for Ruth Jones MP’s bill to ban fur imports and sales. The letter endorses the Fur Free Britain campaign for a ban, led by Humane Society International/UK in partnership with animal protection organisations including FOUR PAWS UK and the RSPCA, which has gathered more than 1.2 million petition signatures to date. The letter, led by Adam Jogee MP, states that “A UK ban on fur imports and sales would send an extremely important global message to those nations still engaged in cruel and dangerous fur farming that protecting public health and animal welfare are more important than fur fashion.” Outbreaks of both COVID-19 and highly pathogenic avian influenza on more than 500 fur farms in Europe and North America have alarmed scientists and public health officials. In a July 2023 article, Imperial College London virologists strongly urged governments to consider the mounting evidence suggesting that “fur farming, particularly mink, be eliminated in the interest of pandemic preparedness”, while a September 2024 study published in Nature, investigating viruses found on Chinese fur farms, found 39 viruses identified as ‘high-risk’ for potential to spread to humans. Lead signatory Adam Jogee, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said: “So many people I speak to are shocked that we still allow fur to be imported and sold in the UK, it’s an extremely cruel and unnecessary trade that should have ended decades ago. The suffering of animals on fur farms is as unacceptable as the appalling disease risk in these places. I’m grateful to so many cross-party Parliamentary colleagues for joining me in raising the strong animal welfare and public health reasons for Government to stop permitting this trade in suffering.” Ruth Jones, MP for Newport West and Islwyn, whose fur import and sales ban Bill will be debated in Parliament later this year, said: “Fur belongs on animals, not bobble hats. A Labour Government made the UK the first country in the world to ban fur farming, now Labour has the opportunity to finish the job and stop importing fur cruelty. Public sentiment against the awful fur trade is so strong, I hope the Government are listening to that, and to the virologists warning us to stop fur farms before they incubate the next pandemic.” The letter also notes that publication of the findings from DEFRA’s Call for Evidence on the Fur Market in Great Britain would “greatly assist in taking forwards Ruth Jones’ bill”. The Call for Evidence was launched in May 2021 to inform possible future action on the UK fur trade, yet almost four years on the results have not been made publicly available despite repeated calls from animal protection organisations and dozens of Parliamentary questions from MPs and Peers. Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs for Humane Society International/UK, said: “The ever-growing list of retailers and designers shunning fur shows that the fur trade is on a one-way trip into the dustbin of fashion history. But for the tens of millions of animals still suffering on fur farms today, and for the sake of protecting public health, we are pleased to see dozens of MPs joining calls for the UK Government to back Ruth Jones’ Bill for a Fur Free Britain.” Download photos and video footage from HSI/UK’s 2024 investigation on fox fur farms in Finland. For access, please contact the media contact below. ENDS Fur Facts:
- Tens of millions of animals suffer and die each year in the global fur trade. The majority of animals killed for fur are reared in barren battery cages on fur farms.
- HMRC records show that almost £40million of fur (£39,703,694) was imported to the UK in 2023 from countries including China, Finland, Spain, Greece and Poland.
- Since April 2020, mink on 488 fur farms across North America and Europe have been reported as having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The virus has been shown to pass from mammal to mammal on intensive mink fur farms and reports of farmed mink to human transfer has been reported in at least six countries. The most recently recorded outbreak was in Bulgaria in October 2023.
- Animals on more than 70 fur farms have been infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) in Europe—in Spain in 2022 and Finland in 2023—resulting in more than 500,000 mink, raccoon dogs, foxes and sable ordered to be killed by the authorities on public health grounds.
- At a Westminster Hall debate in June 2023, Labour's then shadow Defra minister, Alex Sobel MP, stated: “a Labour Government would take the necessary action on the importation of fur into Britain. We are committed to this. ... A Labour Britain will be a compassionate, fur-free Britain."
- In October 2024, Labour MP Ruth Jones introduced a Private Member’s Bill to prohibit the import and sale of fur. The bill proposes to extend existing bans on trade in fur from cats, dogs and seals to include foxes, raccoon dogs, mink, chinchilla, coyotes and other animals killed for fur fashion, and prevent the import and sale of new animal fur from all species. If passed into law, the ban would end the UK’s complicity in the cruelty and public health risk of the global fur trade. The bill’s Second Reading in the House of Commons is scheduled for 13th June 2025.
Media contact: Sally Ivens, Humane Society International/UK: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org