Photo: Olena Karlyk on Unsplash.
Denmark, the country that was once the largest mink fur producer in the world, is closing the book on mink farming. On Friday, October 23, the Danish government announced it will not apply for an exemption from the EU ban on keeping American mink, which takes effect on August 7, 2027.
A two-year transition period runs until August 7, 2029, and then that's it. The decision reverses the plan of the previous coalition of the Social Democrats, Venstre and the Moderates, which had intended to ask the European Commission for a special arrangement to keep the industry going.
Christian Rabjerg Madsen, Denmark's Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare, explained the choice in the government's statement:
An industry should not continue solely because it has existed for a long time. It must also make sense for society, the economy and the animals. The government has chosen animal welfare. We have therefore decided not to submit an application to the EU for a special arrangement for mink in Denmark.
The industry is a shadow of what it was. Before the pandemic Denmark had 1,147 mink farms, according to Humane World for Animals. After the 2020 cull, ordered over a coronavirus variant found in mink, only a modest revival followed once breeding was allowed again in 2023, AFP reports. Just seven farms were registered as of August 11, 2026, and the BBC reports that about 15,000 mink remain in the country.
The science played its part. A July 2025 report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) set out welfare recommendations for mink farming, and the government said meeting them would require substantial changes to Danish production. Humane World for Animals says the EFSA opinion underlines that meaningful improvements are impossible within cage-based fur farming, which is a polite way of saying there is no kind way to farm an animal for its coat.
The Danish public was ready for it, too. Seven in ten Danes (68%) said Denmark should stop mink farming when the EU bans it, in an August 2025 poll for the animal protection group Dyrenes Beskyttelse, campaigners at Anima note. Dr. Joanna Swabe of Humane World for Animals Europe called it "a momentous decision", adding that "Once the world's largest fur producer, Denmark is now consigning this industry to history." Finland, by contrast, has applied to keep farming mink, and more than 1.5 million Europeans have signed the Fur Free Europe citizens' initiative asking for an EU-wide ban.
Denmark keeps turning up in good-news stories. It was talking about a tax on red meat to fight climate change back in 2016, and the following year Danish politicians went vegan to tackle climate change. In 2023 it published the world's first national plant-based action plan, and this month it moved to ban fast-growing chicken breeds, another sign of how fast awareness is growing.
A country that built a global industry on fur is choosing compassion instead. The future is looking brighter.