1,502,319 European Union (EU) citizens signed the initiative Fur Free Europe submitted to the European Commission (EC), NGO’s Animal Freedom representatives inform.
The initiative aims to bring the breeding of fur animals and the placing of furs on the EU market.
Representatives of NGO Animal Freedom informed that the initiative was launched last year, and more than 80 organizations across Europe were involved in collecting signatures.
The collection of signatures ended on the 1st of March – two and a half months before the official deadline,
as more than 1.7 million signatures were collected in record time.
For the initiative to be considered by the EC, it is necessary to collect at least one million verified signatures, as well as to reach the minimum threshold of signatures in at least seven EU member states.
For the European citizens’ initiative to be considered by the EC, at least one million verified signatures must be collected, and the minimum threshold of signatures must be reached in at least 7 EU countries. In the Fur Free Europe initiative, the threshold was reached in 18 countries.
In Latvia, the collection of signatures was organized by Animal Freedom.
In total 71,306 signatures were collected in Latvia, of which 64,162 have been verified.
Regarding the number of inhabitants, Latvia was the most effective among all EU countries – almost 4% of the population of Latvia signed.
The initiators of the initiative – representatives of the association of animal protection organizations Eurogroup for Animals – state:
if all EU member states had been as active as Latvia, the initiative would have collected about 16 million signatures.
On the other hand, Katrīna Krīgere, head of Animal Freedom, states that the results confirm that the people of Latvia care a lot about the protection of animals.
“In Latvia, the ban on animal breeding has already been adopted, now people are demanding the closure of this cruel industry throughout Europe. To torture minks, foxes, and chinchillas in narrow cages and kill them just to get fluffy clothing decorations is inhumane, unnecessary, and completely unacceptable to most of society,” says Krīgere.
The demand of the European citizens’ initiative Fur Free Europe is based on the unethical nature of fur farming, the damage it causes to the environment, and the danger to public health. Its organizers point out that the fur industry threatens animal and human health – during the COVID-19 pandemic, virus mutations from minks were transferred to humans.
the organizers of the initiative will soon meet with the EC and participate in an open discussion of the initiative
in the European Parliament (EP).
After that, the EC will have to give an official response to the initiative by the end of the year.
Representatives of Animal Freedom emphasize that the initiative is the tenth initiative of European citizens that have reached the required number of signatures. It is also the most successful animal welfare initiative so far in terms of signature count.
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