ESTONIA, 6 MARCH 2017 – In February a legislative draft to ban fur farming in Estonia was proposed by member of parliament Barbi Pilvre (Social Democrats) . The proposed ban includes a ten-year changeover period for fur farmers to transition to a more sustainable industry.

The draft that was initiated by 14 parliament members from different factions (SDE, REF, KE) would end fur farming in Estonia by 1 January 2028.

According to Pilvre, the 10-year phase-out period offers sufficient time for the less than hundred people currently employed by the industry to retrain for a new profession and find other jobs.

In Estonia there are four mink and fox farms and about 27 chinchilla farms. A total of 200 000 animals are killed annually. 

According to the latest public opinion survey by Kantar Emor, 69% of the Estonian people do not support raising and killing animals on farms for fur.