An animal welfare expert claims abuse of fur animals and other livestock is fairly typical, the national daily Helsingin Sanomat reports.

“Threr are no good fur farms, says spokesperson Janna Rancken from the animal rights organisation Oikeutta eläimille ("Justice for Animals"). ‘Animals are kept in cramped conditions on every farm,’ she explains.

On Wednesday evening YLE’s A-studio broadcasted the material that the animal rights organisation had received from Finnish fur farms. Previously the organisation had shocked people at the beginning of December with footage shot at pig farms.

According to Rancken, the material that has now been released was secretly shot in 30 farms during last summer and autumn, mostly in Ostrobothnia. The images show bitten tails and animals that have died in their cages, among other things. Rancken emphasises that no farms were broken into.

Last year local animal rights groups caused a stir in Denmark and Norway when they released footage that had been shot on fur farms.

In Norway the local veterinary association announced that it supported a full ban on fur farming. The animal rights group Oikeutta eläimille has the same goal in Finland.

The current conditions of fur animals in Finland do not differ much from those of other livestock, says Professor of Zoology Jaakko Mononen of the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. ‘All production animal species have problems, and we must try to solve them. With regards to fur animals their problems are no worse than those of other animals,’ Mononen says.”

HELSINGIN SANOMAT 17 February. IRINA VÄHÄSARJA