Fur farms are a cruel anachronism. We do not have to kill animals for fashion and human vanity. Did you know that today, most fur is used for trims, pom-poms on hats and other fashion accessories? Fur farms are incompatible with good living conditions. Foxes, minks, raccoon dogs and others cannot satisfy their natural needs and are therefore suffering constantly. Caged animals attack each other and also hurt themselves. They develop stereotypical behaviour, which is a clear indicator that the animal is in stress and uncomfortable. All of this happens just for the sake of fashion. 

The aim is to also prevent an unethical product - fur - from entering the EU from other countries, such as China or Russia.

Most EU countries have banned or restricted fur farming. However, it is still legal to breed and kill animals for their fur in the following countries: Finland, Poland, Latvia, Greece, Sweden (minks only), Lithuania and Romania.

More information:

In 2019, there were 2,900 fur farms where millions of animals suffered. In 2021, the number of decreased to around 1,200. Due to the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, the number of mink farms in the EU has fallen to 759. These farms are mainly located in Finland, Poland, Lithuania and Greece. Before the epidemic, Denmark and the Netherlands were the largest producers of mink fur, but after the COVID-19 epidemic, almost all mink farms were closed. While the Netherlands adopted a ban on fur farms and thus closed the farms for good, Denmark adopted only a temporary ban for the 
duration of the pandemic. It is time to finally put an end to this industry. 

Click here to see a map of countries that have banned fur farming.

In the EU the most commonly bred species are American mink, foxes, chinchillas and raccoon dogs (in 2018, it was 34.7 million minks, 2.7 million foxes, 166,000 raccoon dogs and 227,000 chinchillas).

ECI is a tool for European citizens to propose legislative changes directly to the European Commission. It is an opportunity for Europeans to play an active role in shaping the EU legislation.

For an initiative to reach the European Commission, 1 million signatures from EU citizens are needed.

I want to know more:
Unlike petitions, EOI goes directly to the European Commission and can therefore lead to changes in the EU legislation. In order for the European Commission to consider an EOI, it must be supported by at least 1 million verified signatures of EU citizens. 
This particular EOI calls on the European Commission to put an end to fur farms in the EU and to the sale of fur products.

You can read more about the EOI on the European Commission's website here

For European Citizens' Initiative to be successful, it is important to collect 1 million verified signatures, which requires proof of identity. However, the website and data storage is secured and registered under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to keep all of your information safe. The data is only used directly in the EU verification process according to current EU laws. This data is then used to verify that the person actually exists and it is not a fake signature. Svoboda Zvířat does not obtain or even see your ID or passport number.

Detailed requirements and rules for European Citizens' Initiatives can be found here.

Every EU citizen has to be at minimum age to support this initiative.

I want to know more:
If you don't qualify to sign the EOI, you can still help by sharing information with family, friends on social media. 

You can find detailed requirements and regulations for an EOI here.