As the popularity of fur has declined, so has the number of people with the skills to work on such a challenging and unique material. Bart Atkins has worked at Overland Park-based Alaskan Fur for 40 years, and isn't sure what will happen when he retires.
VANCOUVER With a mink on another B.C. farm testing positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 this week, a growing a list of an animal welfare advocates have banded together to demand that the B.C. government ban mink farms in the province. The BC SPCA, The Humane Society International, The Fur-Bearers and The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs have joined the call first introduced in a letter written by infectious disease experts in March. It is at the point that anything less than a total ban would be the B.C. government putting private interest ahead of public health, said Kelly Butler of Humane Society International, Canada.
200 mink die at Fraser Valley farm with COVID-19 outbreak
About 200 mink have died on a farm in British Columbia s Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver, where a COVID-19 outbreak was declared nearly a week ago.
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Posted: Dec 12, 2020 3:21 PM PT | Last Updated: December 12, 2020
Mink are farmed around the world for their pelts. There are about 60 mink farms across Canada, including in B.C. s Fraser Valley.(Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/Reuters)