Hundreds of Danish mink farm owners drove tractors through Copenhagen and Aarhus to protest against the government-initiated mass slaughter of fur animals. Around 850 tractor owners had registered for the demonstrations, the Ritzau news agency reported today, citing the organizers.
The Danish government announced in early November that all fur animals in the country should be killed because the coronavirus had mutated in the animals and had already been transmitted to humans. There are around 15 to 17 million minks in total. About nine million of them have been culled according to the information. The drastic step was justified with concerns about the negative effects of these modified viruses on the effect of possible future CoV vaccines.
Food Minister resigned after the breakdown
At the time of the announcement, however, there was no legal basis for the mass slaughter of all mink in the country – including those from farms without a Cov case or outside the risk areas. The Danish government admitted this belatedly, which ultimately led to Food Minister Mogens Jensen announcing his resignation.
In the meantime, the government has found a parliamentary majority to legally safeguard the move. According to a corresponding agreement, mink keeping in Denmark is also to be temporarily banned until the end of 2021.
