THE NETHERLANDS CLOSE MINK BUSINESS DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

The fur farming business in the Netherlands is expected to be completely liquidated very soon. The reason for such an extreme decision of the Dutch government is the coronavirus infection that affects minks.

No one wants to turn the mink farms into breeding grounds for the infection caused by the pandemic. As a result, dozens of companies that contain animals for the fur industry were forced to organize a mass extermination immediately after the outbreaks of infection had been recorded on individual farms.

The decision of the Dutch government to stop the cultivation of minks was made last Friday.

The farms where no cases of coronavirus have been reported yet will be required to close the business in March 2021. This period is defined as the deadline, since the "fur" period starts in March and ends in November. This means that next season will be the last for the fur industry in the Netherlands.

According to the rough estimates of experts, the liquidation of business this year is about to affect more than 40 companies across the country, which will be forced to euthanize all their animals to prevent the spread of infection. However, the fact that many firms have been granted a delay for one more season will save money from the state budget, which is forced to compensate the entrepreneurs for the costs associated with the liquidation of the business.

In total, according to statistics, there were about 130 fur farms in the country, which kept more than 800 thousand minks.

The sources report that the Dutch government will have to spend more than € 180 million on the measures to close the farms. € 40 million will go to the extermination of animals and € 140 million to the payment of compensations to the closing companies.

A genetic and epidemiological investigation carried out in the country showed that two workers contracted the virus from minks. To date, these are the only known patients who have contracted an infection from animals. Scientists note that SARS-CoV-2 can infect other animals, including cats, dogs, tigers, hamsters, ferrets and macaques. However, no cases of transmission of this disease from animals back to humans have been recorded yet.

The outbreaks of disease among minks on the Dutch farms are a "side effect" of the human pandemic. It is noted that this gave the Dutch scientists a unique chance to study the process of the transition of the virus from one species to others.

The first outbreaks of the disease on the mink farms were recorded on April 23 and 25, 2020.

One of the farms was home to 12 thousand animals, and another - to 7.5 thousand. The eyewitnesses report that many more minks were dying daily than usual, with some of them having nasal discharge or breathing difficulties. Both outbreaks were caused by COVID-19 infection brought in by a sick farm worker. And although the animals are kept in separate cages, the infection, getting to the farm, begins to spread like wildfire. The experts suppose that it is transmitted through saliva, feed, or dust containing animal feces.

The liquidation of mink farms did not become a surprise for entrepreneurs. The analysts point out that the fur breeding business has been doomed since 2012, when the Netherlands passed a law banning mink breeding, albeit for the ethical reasons.

The Parliament considered this practice to be aggressive and immoral towards animals.

The farms were supposed to cease to exist by 2024. Now, the entrepreneurs affected by the government's decision will be offered to reopen their farms for another three years if they can convincingly prove that the virus has completely disappeared. Otherwise, they will be able to declare their abandonment of the business immediately, claiming for compensations.