Life cycle assessment of mink and fox pelts produced in Finland

Silvenius, Frans; Koskinen, Nita; Kurppa, Sirpa; Rekilä, Teppo; Sepponen, Juhani; Hyvärinen, Helena

doi:10.3920/978-90-8686-760-8_15

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Inefficient use of feed also leads to nutrients being wasted into environment; in fact, the single largest factor raising the carbon footprint in blue fox production is the nitrous oxide in faecal matter (Silvenius et al . ). Growing attention to feed consumption has recently led to the development and use of automatic feeding and feed recording systems, which enable individual and precise feeding in each cage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Genetic parameters of pelt character, feed efficiency and size traits in Finnish blue fox (Vulpes lagopus)

Kempe

Koskinen

Strandén

2013

J Animal Breeding Genetics

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Pelt character traits (size, quality, colour clarity, darkness) are important economic traits in blue fox breeding. Better feed efficiency (FE) is another economically important and new breeding goal for fur animals. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlations between pelt character traits, FE and size traits and to estimate genetic parameters for pelt character traits. Pelt size (pSIcm ) had a high positive genetic correlation with animal grading size (gSI), final body weight (BWFin), body length and daily gain (DG), and a moderate correlation with body condition score (BCS). Animal body length and BCS (describing fatness) were considered as genetically different traits. Genetic correlations between pelt quality and size traits were estimated without precision and did not differ from zero, but colour clarity (pCL) had a low antagonistic genetic correlation with FE. Pelt size and DG had a favourable genetic correlation with FE but a fairly high unfavourable genetic correlation with dry matter feed intake. The current emphasis on selection for larger animal and pelt size improves FE indirectly, but selection for larger pelt size favours fast-growing and fat individuals and simultaneously increases feed intake. The detected genetic connections between FE, size, feed intake and pCL should be taken into account in the Finnish blue fox breeding programme.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Genetic parameters of pelt character, feed efficiency and size traits in Finnish blue fox (Vulpes lagopus)

Kempe

Koskinen

Strandén

2013

J Animal Breeding Genetics

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“…When comparing fur garments with faux fur or acrylic garments, GHG emissions and acidifying emissions were both worse for the fur coats than for the other clothing items, even when the fur was assumed to last considerably longer. (Silvenius et al, 2012) Discussed the use of animal fat, including fur farm waste, to produce biodiesel, which could potentially mitigate some of the environmental damage from fur farming. However, producing biodiesel from plants directly would still be more sustainable.…”

Section: Major Findings Referencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

One health implications of fur farming

Warwick,

Pilny,

Steedman

et al. 2023

Front. Anim. Sci.

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Fur farming involves the captive-breeding, rearing, and killing of between 85 – 100 million animals annually for their pelts. The purpose of this report is to summarise key areas of significance and concern regarding fur farming, and discuss these matters and their one-health considerations. We conducted primary literature searches using Google Scholar and PubMed that focused on issues of animal welfare, zoonoses and public health, and environmental impacts of fur farming, and examined 280 reports. We identified that at least 15 species are farmed for fur across at least 19 countries. We found 16 categories of animal welfare concern (e.g., deprivation, stress, abnormal behaviours, insanitary conditions, forced obesity, and high morbidity and mortality), 18 reported endemic pathogens and diseases with confirmed or potential zoonotic and cross-species implications (e.g., bacterial n = 6, viral n = 5, and parasitic n = 7), and four main categories of environmental concern (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, invasive alien species, toxic chemicals, and eutrophication) associated with fur farming. Despite numerous efforts to systematically monitor and control animal welfare at fur farms, practices continue to fail to meet normal scientific principles and models used in other animal welfare situations. In our view, limited available data does not currently indicate that fur farms are major sources of zoonotic epidemics and pandemics. The environmental problems caused by fur farming are significant, and relate mainly to invasive species, toxic chemical release and eutrophication of water bodies. We offer some recommendations for monitoring and controlling particular fur farming practices, in line with many governments and other investigators we conclude that inherent problems are essentially unresolvable and advocate complete prohibitions on the sector.

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