BRUSSELS – Previously unpublished footage from Finnish fur farms shows that so-called "monster foxes", animals selectively bred to grow unnaturally large for larger pelts, continue to be bred despite years of criticism, industry promises of reform, and legislation intended to prevent animal suffering.
The photos and videos, recorded between November 2025 and April 2026 on farms in Lapua, Veteli and Kauhava, were provided to the animal advocacy organization Project 1882 by an anonymous source. They document foxes with extreme skin folds, severe eye infections, untreated injuries and impaired mobility, housed in barren wire-mesh cages.
The footage comes at a critical moment for the future of fur farming in Europe. Pressure is mounting on the European Commission to act following the Fur Free Europe initiative, which attracted more than 1.5 million signatures calling for an EU-wide ban on fur farming. While the Commission had been expected to present its response in March, a decision has been delayed until after summer. At the same time, a Swedish government inquiry published on 30 April 2026 has proposed a nationwide ban on the breeding and keeping of animals for fur production, arguing for legislation that would apply to all animal species kept primarily for fur or skin production.
Public attention was drawn to so-called "monster foxes" in 2017, when images from Finnish fur farms revealed animals bred to grow unnaturally large in order to produce bigger, more valuable pelts. Despite subsequent industry assurances that such breeding practices would end, the new material shows that they continue today. This year, Finnish auction house Saga Furs even introduced a new, larger size category for fox pelts, further rewarding the production of oversized animals. At its March 2026 auction, Saga Furs offered 12,769 Blue Fox pelts in a size 70 category, larger than the maximum established by the industry following the 2017 scandal.
Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director of public affairs for Humane World for Animals, says: “The sheer monstrosity of the fur farming industry is laid bare by the continued selective breeding of foxes to be so unnaturally large that producers can extract ever greater profit from each pelt. This practice compounds the severe suffering already inflicted on animals confined for life in barren wire cages that cannot come close to meeting their complex behavioural and welfare needs. It is indefensible that the European Commission is even contemplating so-called ‘welfare standards’ for an industry built on such systemic cruelty, particularly in response to the clear democratic mandate delivered by the European Citizens’ Initiative for a Fur Free Europe. We therefore reiterate our unequivocal call for a full EU ban on fur farming. The College of Commissioners must heed Europe’s citizens, reject half-measures, and take decisive action to consign fur farming to history.”
"This footage shows that serious animal welfare problems remain embedded in the fur industry," says Benny Andersson, CEO Project 1882, "As the EU considers the future of fur farming, policymakers must decide what level of animal suffering Europe is willing to accept for luxury products."
“Nearly a decade ago, the fur industry was exposed for breeding grotesquely oversized foxes and claimed that this would stop. Despite the breeding of these oversized foxes being condemned by EFSA for serious welfare violations, the fur industry's broken promise is exposed by these new images. In 2026, in the European Union, these suffering animals continue to be bred for their fur, and the biggest pelts are still being sold and rewarded,” says Joh Vinding, Chair of the Fur Free Alliance, “The European Commission should draw the obvious conclusion: a fur industry that cannot keep its own welfare promises cannot be trusted to regulate itself. Europe needs a Fur Free Europe, not another system of industry standards.”
Notes to editors
The fur industry's broken promise on oversized foxes
Following public outrage over the breeding of extremely large blue foxes in Finland, the Finnish Fur Breeders’ Association (FIFUR) adopted an action plan for 2017–2018. It stated that size 60 would be the maximum permitted blue fox skin size, that Saga Furs would return larger pelts to producers, and that trading in pelts above size 60 could result in loss of certification.
Saga Furs said the size limit was intended to ensure there would be “no value proposition for farmers to raise larger sized foxes.”
- Sources:
https://fifur.fi/en/ajankohtaista/article/the-future-blue-fox/
https://www.sagafurs.com/sustainability/csr/certification-animal-welfare/developing-operations/
Saga Furs' 2026 auction data
At Saga Furs' March 2026 auction, 12,769 size-70 Blue Fox pelts were offered and 100% sold – despite the industry's previous size-60 maximum. The published average price was 89 for size 70, compared with 82 for size 60 and 67 for size 50.
The industry's own figures therefore show not only that its promised maximum has been abandoned, but that the largest pelts achieved the highest average price, therefore directly contradicting its pledge to remove the economic incentive for breeding ever-larger foxes.
Source: https://www.sagafurs.com/auction/auction-name/maaliskuu-2026/
EFSA findings on oversized Arctic foxes
The European Food Safety Authority published its scientific opinion on the welfare of animals kept for fur production on 30 July 2025.nEFSA found that farmed Arctic foxes, also known as blue foxes, have been genetically selected for traits including rapid growth and greater body size in order to obtain larger pelts. EFSA reported that Arctic foxes weighed approximately 7–8 kg at pelting in the 1990s, increasing to around 20 kg by 2014, the most recent data available to EFSA.
EFSA identified locomotory disorders as one of the most relevant welfare consequences for farmed Arctic foxes. It found that selection for production traits and greater body size can contribute to conditions including bent feet, front-leg turning and osteochondrosis.
More broadly, EFSA concluded that, for the species assessed, in the majority of cases the identified welfare consequences could neither be prevented nor substantially mitigated within the current farming system.
Source: EFSA, Welfare of American mink, red and Arctic foxes, raccoon dog and chinchilla kept for fur production:
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2025.9519
Material available upon request:
- Video footage and photographs from Finnish fur farms
- GPS and timestamp verification
- Additional background information and expert commentary
Recording period: November 2025 to April 2026
Locations: Lapua, Veteli and Kauhava, Finland
The organisations releasing the material can provide journalists with GPS data, exact timestamps and additional documentation verifying the footage's authenticity.
About Project 1882
With effective campaigns and political advocacy, Project 1882 with headquarters in Sweden, makes a difference globally for the animals that are the most exploited and suffer the worst.We have been a driving animal advocacy organization in Sweden and beyond since 1882, creating change for millions of animals.