Ireland plans to kill all of their mink over fears they may carry a mutated version of the coronavirus. There are three mink farms with around 100,000 animals across Ireland, according to national media.
An agriculture ministry spokesman said on Thursday that so far, no mink has tested positive on COVID-19. But the department of health suggested that continuing to farm mink is a risk for public health, because the mink-version of the coronavirus could emerge at any time.
“Therefore, it (department of health) has recommended that farmed mink in Ireland should be culled to minimize or eliminate this risk,” the agriculture department said. They would talk to mink farmers about the next steps.
Earlier this month Denmark, the world’s largest producer of mink fur, announced a nationwide killing of 15 million to 17 million animals after a mutated version of the coronavirus was detected in farms and spread to humans.
Spain, the Netherlands, the United States and Greece have also killed millions of mink because of the virus.
Animal welfare organizations worldwide hope that this mass killing of mink will serve one good cause: the end of the mink industry, a cruel industry that kills millions of animals yearly for the fashion industry.