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“Clear and consistent problems with feces, urine and water pollution” around Nova Scotian fur farms is the reason behind several formal complaints lodged today with the Department of Agriculture.
The complaints were submitted by the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals, which says it has documented numerous instances of pollution and improper animal welfare at farms across the province. Those include piles of excrement left outside mink hutches, liquid feces and/or urine leaching into the ground, animals housed within 50 to 100 metres from waterways and algae blooms near fur farms.
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“Effectively, it’s like looking at an ecological collapse from the very bottom up,” APFA spokesperson Michael Howie says of the explosion of blue-green algae in Nova Scotian watersheds. “There’s a number of small lakes I’m aware of where families who have lived on the water for generations no longer let their kids in.”
Howie wouldn’t name which Nova Scotian farms his organization has complained about, pending any investigations by the province.
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Mink is big business in Nova Scotia. Pelt sales totalled $124 million last year, and mink’s consistently the province’s biggest agricultural export. There’s about 120 mink farms, employing some 1,000 workers, in Nova Scotia. Locally, the industry’s been around since back in the 1930s, but it’s shown huge growth in the last few decades—jumping by over 400 percent since 1997. Those numbers dropped considerably last year, partially blamed on a “warm winter” in Russia and China decreasing demand for fur.
Still, with very rough estimates, that’s potentially more than 18,000 tonnes of mink manure produced in the province annually, with some 16 million litres of urine to wash it all down.
“The amount of waste created by these animals is extraordinary,” Howie says, which makes the safe management of their excrement difficult.
The problem’s actually produced some economic spin-off. Southwest Eco-Energy has built an anaerobic digester to separate mink methane from mink manure and turn it into power. Max Barr, the company’s president, told CBC last year that most countries and provinces have digesters like this already in operation. Nova Scotia though, is “about 30 years behind some aspects of farming.”
But the bigger problem, argues Howie, is that regulation for fur farmers is still completely toothless. Whether a mink farm handles their waste properly or just lets it run is entirely down to the individual operator.
“There’s virtually no enforcement,” Howie says. “It comes down to whatever they think they can do—whatever they think they can get away with.”
Last year, the NDP pushed through new industry regulations for mink operators to adopt environmental management plans and better options for waste treatment and disposal. Surface water and soil monitoring programs would also have to be enacted.
Farmers have until 2016 to comply with those regulations, or face a one-year license suspension. This new Fur Industries Act will be hard to enforce, according to some critics. The same Department that promotes the fur farm industry will also be the only one regulating it—another potential problem. Meanwhile, the industry’s national “Codes of Practice” is completely voluntary.
“It’s a very, very weak piece of legislation,” says Howie about the Fur Industries Act. “It’s almost exclusively designed to protect the pelts of the animals and nothing else.
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This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2014.
Fur farms are wrong. The cruelty-free vegan lifestyle is the only thing that will save the world.
The pollution of 10 lakes in SW Nova Scotia is absolutely criminal.
The fact that the govt thinks the $$$ from the industry equals millions of dollars of damage to the environment is laughable. The govt forgave the interest on the minkers loans last year because the fur farmers could not afford to pay it. The price of mink has declined from $120 for the best pelt in 2012 to $47 in Jan 2014. How will they pay their loans now..what is the excuse for allowing this devastation of our water now.
Why are people fighting for their right to clean water called activists….it is our right!!
Why aren’t the minkers call terrorists for destroying it.
We cannot drink, swim, or breathe the vapours from the lake water. No amount of boiling will fix it. Some residents have lived on these properties all their lives and find now, they are worthless.
The Furbearers “complaints” are about problems that have already led to new government environmental protection regulations — the best in Canada — but why let facts get in the way of promoting their new fund-raising campaign? Some people (like “No Fool”, above) may choose to never eat meat, drink milk or use any animal products, and that’s their choice. But most of us do believe that it is ethical to use animals responsibly. And remember: farmed mink are fed leftovers from our own food supply, the parts of the chicken, cow or fish that we don’t want. They turn a “waste” into beautiful, natural products….and their manure, soiled bedding and carcasses can provide organic fertilizers that are needed for Nova Scotia’s crops and orchards — to feed our vegan friends! For another side of the fur story you can visit TruthAboutFur.com
I doubt Michael Howie has ever been to a mink farm or even read the Fur Industries Act!
The Act was designed to ensure All farms follow proper ENVIRONMENTAL management. It has ZERO to do with the pelts of the animals.
Provincial Farmers are as much a proponent of the act as anyone because the 98% that have been good environmental stewards from the beginning are tired of being painted with the same brush as the 2% that haven’t always.
Your “rough estimates” of manure production are not correct and furthermore it is a VERY WELCOME NATURAL RESOURCE in Nova Scotia agriculture. Especially when commercial fertilizer has sky-rocketed in price!
Do some more research next time and Don’t stereotype our Canadian Farmers as part of your feeble campaign!
(I say feeble because stats prove that the vast MAJORITY of Canadians support the use of fur!)
“The complaints were submitted by the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals…”
I’m sorry – is this a group of scientists, environmentalists or veterinarians? Or…is it a by-donation organization with an anti-fur agenda that is hell-bent on trying to end the very trade that our country was built on?
the fur industry has polluted our lakes..do not go on about using waste such as fish etc.
They are many fishermen fishing exclusively for Fish to feed an animal that is strictly a fashion statement. The farmers are using superphosphate in the food to stop spoilage and it is polluting the lakes. Just what about our fur farming history talks about pollution and destroying our environment..I am not in favour of trapping but they did not send thousands and thousands of pounds of manure into our lakes..it is interesting that you think 2% are destroying the properties of hundred of residents with giving a rats ass about them. Flies and seagulls and stench is the norm, and these farmers don’t care about their neighbours. Believe me when I tell you, I do know what I am talking about. We had two minkers come to a meeting and tell us point blank “the govt supports us and there is nothing you can do” that is the only true statement I have heard to date. FYI I am not a vegan, I live in this shit everyday.
Why are people here defending a fur farm and taking a position against an organization that is interested in helping animals and our environment? Are you motives sincere?
There are countries that have strictly regulated or completely banned fur farms, (Austria, the United Kingdom, and Croatia have bans, the Netherlands has a ban on fox and chinchilla farming, and New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland have strict regulations). These countries are still economically strong and sustainable. Canada needs to do the same if it wants to be a leader and show an admirable example in the global front. I’m disappointed that companies like the above are still allowed in my country
It is gross that there are people that don’t see a problem with animals being confined, made to suffet, all for a fashion statement – disgusting people supporting disgusting practices. Those that admonish fur are heads above supporters of this ancient and cruel practice. Tell me, if fur is the history on which Canada was built, shall we go back to trying to take over Aboriginal people and their culture? You can bet Canada was built on that, much the same as fur. Inhumane treatment for selfish purposes.
Let’s accept that we are living in the 21st century and do away with fur farms!! It’s called progress and it needs to happen!
Always all about the $$$. Consume & buy more greedy, selfish humans. At all costs. No matter what’s destroyed. No matter the cruelness & suffering inflicted. As long as the human is gorging and happy. Until there is nothing left.
No animal should be confined to a small space, starved of both mental and physical stimulation. Animals are sentient beings and should be treated with kindness and compassion. There is simply no reason for fur farms to exist.
The fur farming industry is barbaric to say the least. But it is not irresponsible to acknowledge the ripple effect/ impact this industry has on the environment (plant, “wild” wildlife, and water & soil), the poor souls who directly conduct physical and mental torture to these animals, and ultimately the people who live in these communities. It is time we, as Nova Scotians, step out of the dark ages and ban this industry from our neighborhoods.
Fur farming is archaic and environmentally, socially, and morally absurd. We are living in a time where our survival does not depend on wearing the skins of another animal. There are countless synthetic fabrics, (or cotton!!) that do the same thing. What is a fur collar going to do to protect you from the cold and wind? Nothing. They’re functionally useless. In a world where our resources are being depleted at unsustainable rates and where pollution is going to one day cause our demise, it’s time to start thinking and acting proactively. Following other nations in the decision to ban fur farming is as good a place to start as any.
Hey, TheSensibleOne, where is the scientific evidence that dictates that only the 2% of farms are the problem? Where are the studies that talk about how environmentally friendly the rest of the farms are? You forgot to link credible journal articles to back up your claims!
The scientific literature listed here paints a different picture. Let me know if you find any studies relevant to Nova Scotia that support your claim that fur farming is harmless and efficient.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/media/news/Mink…
Fur farms are wrong – let’s stop killing for ‘fashion’.
I’m ashamed to admit that I spent several years working on a mink farm. Quite apart from the environmental damage these hellholes cause are the atrocious conditions in which the animals are kept, sometimes for as long as two or three years. Then there was the fairly routine cruelty inflicted upon them by certain employees. I could spend a couple of hours telling horror stories about the things I witnessed first-hand while employed on a mink farm.
This industry should be obliterated, and anyone who defends it would do just as well to go bury their head in a stinking pile of mink shit.
The fur trade which helped build this country was a far cry from what it has become today. It was individuals hunting and trapping wild animals, which is what mink and fox are, and selling their pelts. Today the animals are raised for the specific purpose of their pelts. They barely have room to turn around in their tiny cages, let alone have space to roam free. At least in the wild there is a chance of survival, unlike in the fur farms. It seems like greed has allowed this industry (not farms) to become more important than the values that we, as Canadians, have always held dear. What happened to the compassion and sensibility that used to be synonymous with being Canadian?? What will be the next thing we will sacrifice for the almighty dollar?? Where will it end? Frankly, I am sickened that this country that I love allows this barbaric behavior to continue. What will another 60 years of mink “farming” look like and what irreplaceable things will we have lost?
corroded1 – If you are serious that mink farms ‘should be obliterated’, I’d like to talk to you. Mink farming should be banned, as it has been in many countries. How does it happen in those countries ? People with knowledge of how these animals are treated, how they live in these conditions – people speak up about it. You can email me at tysavoy66@gmail.com I would very much like to talk to you. Anonymously, if you’d like. I also have a facebook site up called ‘Nova Scotia Mink & Fox Save’.
To the people that are against raising mink.Do you understand what you are saying.killing is wrong ,but some of you eat meat , chicken, fish , you don’t eat it alive ,it is killed. You wear leather shoes ,sit on leather seats . You wear woolen cloths , did you ask the sheep if it was alright to take it ? You kill flies , don’t you think the flies have feelings ? You eat eggs , did you ask the hen if you could eat them ? You eat fruits and vegetables , I’m sure you don’t eat them alive , before you pick them. Maybe they have feelings too. You drive your car and pollute the air , which helps kill animals. You’ve probably ran over animals on the road. now thats cruel . What is your cloths made from ? how are they made ? does the manufacturing process cause any pollution? are they biodegradable ? Do you really know how mink farmers care for the mink they raise , or are listening to what other people say. Everybody is an expert , when it comes to what someone else is doing. So maybe there is someone out there that knows how you should be living ,better than you do. Mink farmers are like anyone else. They have families they love , they have pets they love, they are not cruel people, they work hard, they pay taxes. Please think of what you say before you write something that will hurt some one else. As far as the lakes in Nova Scotia, there is a lot more pollution comes from camps and campers than there is mink farms. And every water system with bleu green algi, has’nt got a mink farm near it.