Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera Neogale and Mustela and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the American mink and the European mink. The extinct sea mink is related to the American mink but was much larger.
Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur.
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued. Historically the trade stimulated the exploration and colonization of Siberia, northern North America, and the South Shetland and South Sandwich Islands.
The fisher is a small, carnivorous mammal native to North America, a forest-dwelling creature whose range covers much of the boreal forest in Canada to the northern United States. It is a member of the mustelid family, and is in the monospecific genus Pekania. It is sometimes misleadingly referred to as a fisher cat, although it is not a cat.
The American mink is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink is classed as a least-concern species by the IUCN. The American mink was formerly thought to be the only extant member of the genus Neovison following the extinction of the sea mink, but recent studies, followed by taxonomic authorities, have reclassified it and the sea mink within the genus Neogale, which also contains a few New World weasel species. The American mink is a carnivore that feeds on rodents, fish, crustaceans, frogs, and birds. In its introduced range in Europe it has been classified as an invasive species linked to declines in European mink, Pyrenean desman, and water vole populations. It is the animal most frequently farmed for its fur, exceeding the silver fox, sable, marten, and skunk in economic importance.
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in ten countries: United States, Canada, Namibia, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Most of the world's seal hunting takes place in Canada and Greenland.
Fur clothing is clothing made of furry animal hides. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used as hominids first expanded outside Africa. Some view fur as luxurious and warm; others reject it due to personal beliefs of animal rights. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a coat, wrap, or shawl made from the fur of animals. The most popular kinds of fur in the 1960s were blond mink, yellow leopard, black panther, silver striped fox and red fox. Cheaper alternatives were pelts of wolf, Persian lamb or muskrat. It was common for ladies to wear a matching hat. In the 1950s, a must-have type of fur was the mutation fur and fur trimmings on a coat that were beaver, lamb fur, Astrakhan and mink.
Canada is one of the largest agricultural producers and exporters in the world. As with other developed nations, the proportion of the population agriculture employed and agricultural GDP as a percentage of the national GDP fell dramatically over the 20th century, but it remains an important element of the Canadian economy. A wide range of agriculture is practised in Canada, from sprawling wheat fields of the prairies to summer produce of the Okanagan valley. In the federal government, overview of Canadian agriculture is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
This is a time line of Animal Liberation Front (ALF) actions since 2005.
Peter Daniel Young is an American animal rights activist. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1998 on charges related to fur farm raids in Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin in 1997. He was in hiding for seven years, before being arrested in San Jose and sentenced to two years' imprisonment in 2005. Young was released in February 2007.
The American Legend Cooperative (ALC) was an agricultural marketing cooperative of mink fur farmers in the United States and Canada, best known for its Blackglama, American Legend brands of fur, as well as the older LEGEND brand. American Legend was formed in 1986 as a merger of the Great Lakes Mink Association (GLMA) and the Mutation Mink Breeders Association (EMBA). It was acquired by North American Fur Auctions in 2018.
Cox's Cove is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The town had a population of 688 in the Canada 2016 Census. The small community is mainly based on the fishery, mink farm, and construction industries.
This is a time line of Animal Liberation Front (ALF) actions since its formation in 1976 until 1999.
The Fur Institute of Canada (FIC) works to promote the fur trade and to advocate for the fur industry. The organization, has more than 100 members from industry and trade, government, Aboriginal groups and the scientific community.
The silver fox is a melanistic form of the red fox. Silver foxes display a great deal of pelt variation. Some are completely glossy black except for a white colouration on the tip of the tail, giving them a somewhat silvery appearance. Some silver foxes are bluish-grey, and some may have a cinereous colour on the sides.
The Siberian fur trade is an exchange concerned with the gathering, buying and selling of valuable animal furs that originate from Siberia. The Siberian fur trade expanded from localized trade, and Siberian fur is now traded around the world. The Siberian fur trade had a significant impact on the development of Siberia through exploration and colonization. The fur trade also precipitated a decline in the number of fur-bearing animals and resulted in Siberia being conquered by Russia.
The mink industry in Denmark produced 40 percent of the world's pelts, Denmark used to be the largest producer of mink skins in the world. Ranked third in Denmark's agricultural export items of animal origin, fur and mink skins have a yearly export value of about €500 million. Kopenhagen Fur, located in Copenhagen, is the world's largest fur auction house; annually, it sells approximately 14 million Danish mink skins produced by 2,000 Danish fur farmers, and 7 million mink skins produced in other countries. Mink produced in Denmark was considered to be the finest in the world and is ranked by grade, with the best being Saga Royal, followed by Saga, Quality 1, and Quality 2.
Kopenhagen Fur, an agribusiness coop, located in Langagervej 60, Glostrup, Copenhagen, Denmark, is the largest fur skin auction company in the world. Its business units include production, classification and trade of mink fur, as well as offering workshop facilities and seminars for designers and researchers. Furward is the company's consultancy subsidiary. Kopenhagen Studio has two locations: the Langelinie studio incorporates the company's workshop and marketing department while its Beijing studio at Tsinghua University trains fur designers. At peak demand, the company is able to pack and sort 150,000 furs in one day.
Fur is no longer primarily obtained through animal trapping; most fur comes from farms, where animals are raised to be killed for their fur. Fur farming operations provide about 80 percent of overall fur production. Common sources of fur include mink, raccoon, and fox. Up to 30 million mink furs are produced annually in North America and Europe. The production of pelts involves large-scale tanning and disposal of animal carcasses after they are skinned. Fur production reportedly impacts the environment negatively through the release of gases, chemicals and fossil fuels.
