Vienna/Brussels, 30 July 2025 – It is not possible to ensure good animal welfare or to mitigate the serious welfare concerns in the cage-based systems in fur farms, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has confirmed, in its scientific opinion as part of the Fur Free Europe ECI process. Global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS and other animal protection organisations urge the European Commission (EC) to address this opinion by banning fur farming in the EU, as demanded by millions of EU citizens.

The EFSA findings confirm what scientists have been stressing for years: fur farming is fundamentally incompatible with animal welfare. It highlights the severe welfare consequences faced by mink, foxes, raccoon dogs and chinchillas in fur production, including restriction of movement, isolation stress, tissue lesions and lameness, while it asserts that the complex behavioural and physiological needs of these animals simply cannot be met within the fur farming industry.

Given that the only currently-used farming system relies on wire mesh cages, this conclusion aligns with a broad body of existing research highlighting the harmful impact of caging animals, whether domesticated or not.

As scientific evidence highlights that no enrichment or change to the system can respect the welfare needs of animals farmed for fur and with the industry being in a state of decline, the EC should seize the opportunity of the current revision of the EU animal welfare legislation to acknowledge the calls of the ECI and adopt:

• A ban on fur farming
• A ban on the placement of farmed fur products on the European market, to ensure that fur produced under similarly cruel conditions in third countries is not sold within the EU.

This call has also been supported by The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE), representing 330,000 veterinarians across 39 countries, who asserted that fur farming is not future-proof and urged a full ban on farming and the sale of fur products in the EU.

“The newly published EFSA opinion brings no real surprises: confining inherently wild animals in cages for a luxury product that serves no essential purpose violates the most basic principles of animal welfare. In light of this new EFSA assessment, and given the well-documented public health and environmental risks associated with fur farming, we urge the European Commission a ban across the EU, in line with the demands of citizens”, commented Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals.

FOUR PAWS was one of the major signature contributors to the ‘Fur Free Europe’ European Citizens' Initiative. Read more about the efforts and achievements of FOUR PAWS on ending fur farming in the EU here.