Week of fighting for fur ban in Poland

Just two hours after the publication, on a press conference, the leader of the ruling party in Poland, Jarosław Kaczyński, announced the significant changes in animal protection law, asking for non-partisan support for the bill. This project is called 5 for animals: it deals not only with banning the fur production but also concerns animals in circuses, ritual slaughter and more control over animal shelters. Kaczyński said that every good person should support this.

 

Shortly after that, Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, also supported the amendment saying that humane treatment of animals is neither right-wing nor left-wing but that it is simply a part of the concept of humanity.

The bill is now in Parliament so we are all impatiently waiting for voting.

Meanwhile in Poland, there have been over 140 media publications and the news appeared in other countries as well. In Poland, the reach of traditional media only is estimated to be 19 million! 

Just a few days ago Jarosław Kaczyński expressed his support for the fur ban once again using Tik Tok and he asked other politicians and society to join the #stopfurchallenge. He nominated, among others, Polish prime minister, who later participated and nominated more politicians. More and more politicians, celebrities, journalists and activists publish their own videos spreading #stopfurchallenge. It turned out to be so successful that it is now one of the trending hashtags on Twitter.
 

 

Today, a week after the release of the investigation, our activists, together with the police and the prosecutor tried to enter the farm but they were denied that. Only one vet was allowed to go inside. He found two dead minks and several wounded ones but it is not a big surprise since the farm owners were expecting a visit. 

Of course the announced changes caused some backlash from fur farmers and media connected with them. The arguments are more and more absurd every day ranging from “minks are happy on fur farms” to saying that proposed changes are a threat to our religion and beliefs. 

Last time it was the mink owner’s family and their connections that made it impossible to ban fur farming. Now, we are closer to the ban than we have ever been. 


Edit: 16/09/20 Polish Parliament discussed in a first reading a new animal protection bill with crucial changes. The ban on factory farming of fur animals is one of the proposed changes. This can be a historic law.
Edit: 17/09/20 Discussions and voting regarding amendements took 11 hours (finished today in the morning). At 1pm a second reading of the bill started.