SHOCKING FOOTAGE REVEALED ON LITHUANIAN FUR FARMS: INSIDE THE KILLING BOX
The Fur Free Alliance member and Lithuanian animal protection group ‘‘Tušti Narvai’’ have released a shocking video that exposes the brutality of killing animals for their fur. The latest undercover investigation into Lithuanian fur farms reveals evidence of punching, throwing, and gassing of animals, as well as clear video taken from inside a killing box for the first time.
The published images from eight fur farms in Lithuania (filmed in 2019, 2022, and 2023) show gross violations of animal welfare. They were recorded on farms located in the districts of Mažeikiai, Prienai, Panevėžys, Ukmergė, Kelmė, Šiauliai and Kaunas. The video shows mink being thrown and beaten by fur farm workers, with the helpless animals grabbing onto the cage with their claws only to be handled roughly or beaten. Additionally, graphic pictures of animals being killed inside gas chambers have been made public. Mink can be seen leaping, scuffling, and attempting to get away. The animals eventually start to slowly suffocate as their bodies start to spasm.
Gabrielė Vaitkevičiūtė, executive director of Tušti Narvai, says:
“When editing the images, we had to change the people doing it several times. The shots are simply too cruel, so it was too difficult for the people watching emotionally. Such treatment of animals is unfathomable and unforgivable. Fur farmers call this process “putting animals to sleep”. Does it sound like making someone sleep? What most people can’t even look at because of how horrible it is, is a standard practice on fur farms. On all of them, the killing season looks the same.”
Mink are slaughtered on Lithuanian fur farms in the spring and fall. The males are gassed in the spring after mating because they are no longer required, and all the animals chosen for their fur are gassed in the fall. “The images show how fur farm workers cause pain and suffering to animals by using excessive force. Therefore, law enforcement will be contacted in order to bring to justice those who behaved in this way with animals. But now the most important thing is that such activities should be banned altogether. It is no longer necessary to torture animals for the sake of fashion,” emphasizes G. Vaitkevičiūtė.
