The Dutch Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to permanently shut down an estimated 128 mink fur farms, following coronavirus outbreaks at 17 of them. The parliamentary decision is expected to be approved by the government.

The Humane Society of the US is reporting that the move comes after “the government confirmed that two farm workers were ‘extremely likely’ to have contracted the virus from mink”. Hundreds of thousands of mink were subsequently killed on the infected farms “to prevent future outbreaks”.

The Netherlands was in the process of phasing out fur farming, with a ban due to take effect in 2023 but this latest vote is likely to speed up the demise of the cruel industry. The country has already phased out fox and chinchilla fur farming.

Denmark – Europe’s largest mink fur producer – has also detected infected…