In 2013, there were over 40 fur farms in Iceland. By 2024, that number dropped to six. Today, there is just one left in the country. Until now, the horrors occurring inside these farms have been largely unknown.
Humane World for Animals released the first-ever investigation into Icelandic fur farms in March. All three facilities, and two others, are now closed, reportedly due to financial collapse.
Inside the dark buildings housed in row after row of small wire boxes, the animals looked forgotten. Cages were layered in dust. A dead mink lay motionless in a wheelbarrow. Another dangled off the side of a ledge. The living mink were confined in tiny cages, and many had open wounds or eye infections. Multiple animals’ white fur coats were stained with blood. One mink repeatedly sneezed blood as investigators filmed. Blood dripped from their face and clung to the wire bars of their cage.
An inside look into the cruelty of Icelandic fur farms
Kristo Muurimaa
Juho Kerola
“This is the grim reality behind the fur trade’s glossy facade,” says Shely Bryan, Fur Free program director at Humane World for Animals.
Even that facade is wearing off. As people become more aware of the inherent cruelty behind fur, profits continue to decline. It now often costs the farmers more to breed the animals for their fur than the price they get for their pelts.
Iceland’s sole remaining fur farm is just 30 minutes from the country’s capital, Reykjavík. Humane World for Animals is partnering with Animal Welfare Iceland to urge the government to end fur farming in the country for good.
“Here in Iceland, we’re proud of our nature,” says Dr. Rósa Líf Darradóttir, chairwoman at Animal Welfare Iceland. “We’re proud of our wild spaces and the sense of harmony that the people have with the land. But fur farming is the complete opposite of that.”
Shortly after the investigation was released, Iceland Fashion Week announced it was going fur-free. The event, which takes place in Reykjavík in September, joins a growing number of fashion weeks that have turned their backs on fur, including those in Copenhagen, London, New York and, most recently, Milan.
Campaigners are hopeful that Iceland will join the growing number of European countries that have banned fur farming—now at 24. In response to the investigation, the government has committed to reviewing legislation.
Kristo Muurimaa/
End cruel fur farming now!
Iceland’s fur farming industry is near collapse with more than 30 operations closing in the last decade. Now is the time for the government of Iceland to end it for good. Tell Iceland's government to end fur farming once and for all.
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