Fur-Free Europe

Our campaign in Europe focuses on achieving fur farming bans at both a national and EU level. We also expose the cruel reality of fur farming and work to encourage designers and retailers to go fur-free.

Fur farming

More than twenty European nations have already banned fur farming, but it continues to be legal in a small number of countries, including Finland, Poland and Greece.

We successfully campaigned for a ban on fur farming in Romania, with legislators outlawing the active practices of both mink and chinchilla fur farming in the country in 2024. We also work with partner NGOs in Poland to convince politicians to end fur farming in Poland, now Europe’s largest producer of animal fur.

European Union

We work closely with legislators to bring about an end to the fur trade. We were successful in bringing about bans on cat and dog fur and products from commercial seal hunts in the 2000s and have led campaigns demonstrating the lack of clear labelling on fur products and highlighting the threat that fur farming poses to public health, biodiversity and the wider environment.

We are currently campaigning for a FurFreeEurope, a ban on fur farming and the placing on the market of fur farmed products across the European Union. More than 1.5 million EU citizens signed a European Citizens’ Initiative in support of such an EU-wide ban, and a policy decision is expected to be made by the European Commission by March 2026.

Our investigation footage from numerous fur farms formed part of our submission to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the scientific body commissioned by the European Commission to review the conditions of fur farms. EFSA has since produced a highly significant scientific opinion, which will inform the Commission’s decision-making on the future of the EU fur industry. EFSA concluded that current fur farming systems used across the Union are unable to meet the welfare needs of animals, such as mink, foxes, raccoon dogs and chinchillas.

Public awareness

Through our country offices in Romania, Poland, Germany and Italy we work with designers and fashion companies to end their use of fur and use undercover investigations from fur farms in countries such as Romania and Finland to expose the reality of fur farming and convince policymakers to take action.