It is estimated that about half of all animals raised for their fur are killed to satisfy the fur trim market.
China and the European Union are the most involved in this slaughter. More than 50 million fur animals were killed in China in 2019 (20.7 million minks, 17.3 million foxes and 12.3 million raccoon dogs, a fox species indigenous to the Far East). In the EU there were almost 38 million (34.7 million minks, 2.7 million foxes, 166,000 raccoon dogs and 227,000 chinchillas). In the US 3.1 million and in Canada 1.8 million, mainly mink.
In addition to breeding, huge numbers of wild animals are captured and killed for fur in the wild, especially in the United States, Canada and Russia. In 2018, more than 3 million animals were killed for their fur in North America.
In Europe, fur farming has been banned in Austria, Bosnia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, the UK and is being phased out in France, Belgium and Denmark. In the Netherlands it was supposed to go into effect in 2024, but it was brought forward to last year after Covid-19 outbreaks discovered on farms. In Germany (from 2022), Sweden and Switzerland the welfare requirements in fur farms have been so high that they are not competitive. Ireland, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine are currently considering legislation on the ban on livestock farming.