Animals covered in gaping wounds lie in filthy cages in shocking footage from Bulgarian mink farm

Shocking footage has emerged from inside Bulgaria’s last remaining mink fur farm, where as many as 100,000 of the animals are killed every year.

The footage shows mink with gaping wounds trapped in tiny, rusty cages covered in cobwebs. In some cages several mink had been crammed in together, while carcasses of some of animals had been left to rot.

Other mink had escaped the broken cages and were found by investigators running freely in the filthy and cruel conditions at the farm.

Scroll down for video 

Shocking footage showing inside Bulgaria’s last remaining mink fur farm, where as many as 100,000 animals are killed every year, has been released

Footage from inside the farm showed mink trapped inside tiny, rusting cages. Many had gaping wounds, and in some cages the carcases of the animals had been left to rot

Pictured: A mink is seen in cages covered in cobwebs in the Bulgarian fur farm

The footage was released by animal welfare charities Open Cages and Humane Society International. Open Cages said it was releasing the footage in response to the British government dropping its Animals Abroad Bill.

Citing the Bulgarian Mink Breeders’ Association – the group said the farm shown in the footage is certified as WelFur, a scheme run by the fur industry to determine whether such facilities meet welfare requirements.

The charity told MailOnline that investigators had made multiple visits to the farm in Madzherito, central Bulgaria, throughout 2021. 

The footage was published along-side a Bulgarian animal protection organisation, Nevidimi Zhivotni (Invisible Animals), which has been warning for years over the conditions at the farm.

Not only are the conditions cruel, but mink escaping from fur farms can wreak havoc on local wildlife populations and for agriculture.

‘It’s clear that on this farm, like any other fur farm, animals are suffering,’  CEO & Founder of Open Cages Connor Jackson said.

‘The place is in a total state of neglect and chaos: the cages are broken and covered in waste, there are cobwebs and dirt above and below the cages, seemingly old food being left to rot on the cages,’ Jackson continued.

‘Behind the idyllic image of a professional, modern and welfare-certified farm, these animals must endure open wounds and unending misery all for a piece of meaningless fur: the kind that continues to be sold on the British high street.’

Pictured: A aisle inside the Bulgarian mink fur farm runs between the animal’s cages

Pictured: Three mink are shown crammed into one tiny cage at the Bulgarian mink farm

The footage was released by animal welfare charities Open Cages and Humane Society International. Open Cages said it was releasing the footage in response to the British government dropping its Animals Abroad Bill

Open Cages said that the footage appears to have shocked the Bulgarian government into action, reporting that the country’s Minister of Environment and Water – Borislav Sandov – has issued draft legislation that would ban the breeding and import of American mink due to the threat they pose to native species.

Bulgarian government figures show that the country breeds around 120,000 mink ever years.

Open Cages said it was releasing the footage in response to the United Kingdom dropping its plans to introduce  the Animals Abroad Bill – which would ban fur imports from abroad.

The bill aimed to tackle cruel animal practices overseas, and ensure the UK was not participating in such industries. 

While fur farming was banned in England and Wales in 2000, and Scotland and Northern Ireland by 2002, it remains legal to import some furs from abroad.

Between 2015-2020 HM Revenue & Customs statistics show the United Kingdom imported £11,039 worth of Bulgarian fur. While the number is fairly low, the charities said the video demonstrated the cruelty of the overall industry. 

Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International, said: ‘As long as the UK is a part of the global fur trade, we are 100% complicit in the unimaginable suffering exposed on this farm in Bulgaria, and so many other fur farms where investigations show the abject misery of animals caged and killed for their fur.’

After the bill was omitted from the Queen’s speech last week, ministers were accused of a ‘betrayal of animals’ by campaigners, while Tory MPs asked why Prime Minister Boris Johnson had junked past manifesto pledges.

Pictured: A mink is shown trapped at the bottom of a cage with a dead animal carcass 

Pictured: A mink is shown in a rusty cage with an open wound at the farm in Bulgaria

The now-abandoned Bill formed part of the Government’s ‘Action Plan for Animal Welfare’. This promised to look into a post-Brexit ban on ‘the import or sale of foie gras and other products derived from low-welfare systems’. 

Ministers vowed to ‘explore potential action’ on banning the import of all fur products. And the bill also included provisions to ban the advert and sale of ‘low animal welfare experiences’ abroad, such as elephant rides.

A coalition of 38 organisations, including the RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming, Four Paws UK, Humane Society International and Save the Asian Elephants, today condemned the failure to bring forward the Animals Abroad Bill.

Recent national polling for the #DontBetrayAnimals campaign found that more than three quarters (77%) want to see the Government ban the import of products that are farmed or made in ways that are already banned in the UK, such as fur. 

Speaking on behalf of the campaign, Emma Slawinski from the RSPCA, said: ‘We are deeply dismayed that the Government has gone back on its word to prioritise animal welfare by abandoning the Animals Abroad Bill.’

Slawinski said this meant that ‘animal protection laws such as bans on imports of foie gras and fur will no longer go ahead, nor will bans on adverts for animal tourism practices involving cruelty such as elephant riding and tricks.

‘The Government’s abandonment of the Animals Abroad Bill speaks for itself; it is a betrayal of animals and shows contempt for public opinion.’

The Government had previously promised to look into a post-Brexit ban on ‘the import or sale of foie gras and other products derived from low-welfare systems’

In response to the absence of the bill in the Queen’s Speech, senior Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale posted on Twitter: ‘Where is the Government’s commitment to manifesto pledges on animal welfare in the legislative programme?

‘I trust that ‘other measures will be laid before us’. It’s called ‘ keeping your word’ and we must do that.’

Earlier this year, Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob-Rees-Mogg and Mark Spencer, the Leader of the House of Commons, were reported to have led a Cabinet revolt against import bans on the basis that consumers should be free to choose whether or not to purchase fur or foie gras.

Lord Goldsmith said at the time: ‘The public are strongly in favour of measures to curb the fur trade and foie gras.

‘There are some who view the issue as a matter of personal choice, but no one would extend that principle to things like dog-fighting or bear-baiting, so it’s not clear why fur farming or force-feeding geese, which arguably are associated with far greater levels of cruelty, should be any different.’