Mink Legislation Reintroduced to Protect Public Health and Compensate Farmers Niki Wed, 03/19/2025 - 10:55 Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur Djurrattsalliansen March 19, 2025 Washington, DC—US Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) has reintroduced the Mink: Vectors for Infection Risk in the United States Act (Mink VIRUS Act), bipartisan legislation endorsed by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI). This bill is a response to the urgent public health threat posed by mink farms, where mink incubate diseases such as COVID-19 and avian influenza.The Mink VIRUS Act (H.R. 2185) would phase out US mink farms within one year and establish a grant program to reimburse farmers for the full value of their operations, enabling them to successfully transition away from an increasingly unprofitable business.“Not only do mink suffer in cramped and crowded cages on fur farms, but we also cannot ignore the risk of disease proliferation and the possibility of human infection,” said Susan Millward, AWI’s executive director and chief executive officer. “Pandemic prevention requires a multifaceted approach and ending mink farming is a crucial component of that effort. It’s time to leave this declining industry in the past and provide farmers with the resources needed to transition to something safer and more sustainable.”Mink farms, which raise and slaughter animals to sell their pelts to the fashion industry, typically pack thousands of mink together into long rows of barren pens barely large enough for them to move around. The conditions not only are inhumane but also create an ideal setting for pathogens to circulate among and across species.The deadly H5N1 virus has infected tens of thousands of mink on dozens of fur farms since 2022. During an October 2022 outbreak on a mink farm in Spain, the virus gained at least one mutation that favors mammal-to-mammal spread, allowing it to spread from mink to mink. Scientists referred to this H5N1 mink farm outbreak as a “warning bell,” calling it a “clear mechanism for an H5 pandemic to start.” Given the potentially dire ramifications if H5N1 mutates into a form that could spread between humans, it is crucial to take every precaution possible.Mink are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19), with outbreaks on more than 480 known mink fur farms across 12 countries. Alarmingly, mink are already capable of passing a mutated form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus back to humans. Spillback from mink farms to humans could continue to introduce new variants, undermining the effectiveness of vaccines and jeopardizing efforts to contain the pandemic.Meanwhile, the fur industry is steeply declining because fur is not something that compassionate US consumers want to wear. Lack of consumer demand, coupled with state and local bans and fur-free commitments from major fashion brands, has shrunk profits. According to a July 2024 USDA report, 2023 was one of the fur industry’s worst years on record. The value of all mink pelts produced totaled $33.1 million, a 10% decrease from 2022. Overall mink pelt production in 2023 was also 28% lower than in the previous year. Many European countries have already banned, or are in the process of banning, mink farming, including Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom. The measures taken by these governments to address the serious public health risk posed by mink farms are appropriate and proportional to the scale of the crisis. Media Contact Information Marjorie Fishman, Animal Welfare Institutemargie@awionline.org, (202) 446-2128 The Animal Welfare Institute (awionline.org) is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to alleviating animal suffering caused by people. We seek to improve the welfare of animals everywhere: in agriculture, in commerce, in our homes and communities, in research, and in the wild. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and LinkedIn for updates and other important animal protection news.