Denmark digs up millions of dead mink after Covid-19’s failed cull

The drama began in November, when Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s government signed the death warrant for the country’s 17 million minks – three times the human population. Researchers had found that the farms where they were bred for their fur could serve as a reservoir for a new strain of the virus – unrelated to the new variant recently found in the UK – that could contain the new vaccines now being deployed, could withstand. Scientists advising the government warned that the mutation could become endemic among wild minks, creating an ongoing problem.

In fact, the culling brought Denmark’s $ 750 million a year mink industry – the world’s largest – to an unconfirmed end.

Many Danes initially applauded the government’s swift decision. Denmark was also one of the first European countries to close its borders when Covid-19 first appeared earlier this year, polishing Ms. Fredericksen’s leadership in a country where politicians usually take the time to reach a broad consensus about important policy choices.

However, political opponents and many farmers say her government acted hastily, while animal rights activists said Denmark should follow the UK, Germany and other countries that have already banned fur farming.

First, legal experts called the cull warrant unconstitutional. The government did not have the legal backing it needed to enforce the cull; later it introduced retroactive legislation to cover it. The Agriculture Secretary resigned and opposition lawmakers are calling for more heads to roll.

Farmers complained that there was no compensation agreement when the culling started. Last month they drove hundreds of tractors into the capital Copenhagen to defend their case and are still waiting for details on what to expect. A package was approved in parliament on Monday.

Then mink corpses began to reappear, pushed through the ground by gases released as their bodies disintegrated. Danish newspapers started calling them “zombie mink,” which haunted the government as it struggled with a resurgence of Covid-19 among the human population.

The animals are said to have been burned, but the scale of the cull meant that up to 5.5 million minks were buried near the towns of Karup and Holstebro.

Disposing of the animals was challenging. Minks are particularly susceptible to the virus because they are vulnerable to coronaviruses and are grown in large numbers in tightly packed cages, making them easier to spread. Researchers found seven different types of mutations in the virus’s spike protein in farmed mink after catching it from farm workers. One of those mutations involved four genetic changes that increased the virus’s resistance to antibodies, potentially making it more resistant to vaccines.

A dozen farm workers were also found to be infected by the mutation, making it the first known example of animals catching the virus from humans and then passing it on again. It has not spread further.

Outbreaks of the more widespread form of Covid-19 have been discovered on mink farms in other parts of Europe, where clearance orders have also been issued, and in the US, where the Department of Agriculture said it found a positive case last week. in a wild mink in Utah as part of a wildlife surveillance project around infected farms.

“To our knowledge, this is the first free-roaming native wild animal to have been confirmed with SARS-CoV-2,” the USDA said in a warning to the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Danish mink breeders, meanwhile, have an uncertain future. Some farms had bred mink for generations, and Danish mink skins were considered the best in the world and were especially sought after in China and Russia.

Animal rights activists argue that the cull should mean the end of fur farming in Denmark. In any case, the industry is unlikely to recover.

Without their breeding stock, mink farmers will find it difficult to return to the 20% premiums they command in the world market, which many have said they need to cover their margins. New legislation prohibits the reintroduction of minks in Denmark until the end of next year.

Fur is also steadily falling out of favor with the fashion industry, with both the volume and price of furs falling by about half since 2014, according to main exchange Copenhagen Fur.

The exchange says it now plans to wind down operations in the next two to three years.

Write to James Hookway at [email protected]