Activists of the Polish eco-organization Open Cages demanded the immediate closure of a mink farm in Bulgaria after an on-site investigation in Bulgaria.
About 100,000 animals are killed annually on the farm near Stara Zagora. The skins are exported, including to the countries of the European Union, according to the organization.
“I have been an investigative activist for many years and I have seen the worst atrocities that can be committed to animals. However, what I saw was shocking even for us,” said Bohna Viltovska, director of Investigations and Interventions of Open Cages.
“In 2021, activists from Open Cages and the Bulgarian organization Invisible Animals conducted an investigation into the last functioning mink farm in Bulgaria, where about 100,000 animals are killed annually,” said Bogna Viltovska.
The results of the investigation show the terrible conditions under which the animals are kept in Magerito. Mink live in damaged, broken and dirty cells, full of food and excrement. A significant proportion of their animals are injured or dead, and workers do not regularly remove the bodies of dead animals. It happened that the bodies of the animals were left so long that they fused with the cage.
It is worth emphasizing that the farm under investigation has a WelFur industry certificate, which should guarantee the welfare of the breeders – among other things, and adequate nutrition, living conditions and health. However, the investigation proves that this certificate is only a facade and does not provide the animals with the necessary living environment in any way.
Mink, which managed to escape from their cages, fled the farm and the surrounding area without control, posing a serious risk to biodiversity and the environment. The American mink is considered an invasive species (a species that has been introduced accidentally or intentionally into an alien habitat and occupies a dominant position over the local flora or fauna in the competition for resources).
The Open Cages Association, registered in Poland, has been operating since 2012 with the help of “people who want to change the fate of farm animals” and is associated with the Danish “Anima International”, offnews.bg reports.
