Fur farming ban bill proposal submitted to the Speaker of the Parliament – signed by more than 120 MPs

Fur farming ban bill proposal submitted to the Speaker of the Parliament – signed by more than 120 MPs

MP Malgorzata Tracz has submitted her bill banning the breeding of animals for fur to Sejm Speaker Szymon Holownia. More than 120 politicians and politicians signed the bill, including Aleksandra Gajewska, Katarzyna Piekarska, Adrian Zandberg, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Gabriela Lenartowicz, Dorota Olko, and Speaker Szymon Holownia himself. Now the bill will wait for the Speaker to assign a print number to go to further parliamentary work.

Małgorzata Tracz’s bill envisages a ban on the construction of new farms from 2025, the complete extinction of breeding from 2029, compensation for breeders, and severance pay for farm workers. Already at the start, the bill enjoys strong cross-party support – expressed by, among others, Marek Sawicki of the PSL, Joanna Lichocka of the Law and Justice party, Daria Gosek-Popiolek of Razem, Dorota Loboda of the Civic Platform, and Ewa Szymanowska of Polska2050.

What’s next for the draft? It will await the assignment of a print number by Speaker Simon Holownia. Then it will be sent to the European Commission for notification to go to further parliamentary work.

– We are counting on quick action by Speaker Holownia. We know that the fate of animals is not indifferent to him, he has repeatedly publicly expressed his support for the ban on fur farming, and now he has signed on to the bill, so we hope that the legislation will proceed as soon as possible,” says Marta Korzeniak of Otwarte Klatki.

Activists from Open Cages and the Viva! Foundation stress that the ban enjoys overwhelming public support. In a 2023 Biostat survey, 66.1% of respondents said that raising and killing animals for fur in Poland should not be allowed. 20 countries in Europe have already banned the raising of animals for fur – these include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Italy, and Ireland. More countries, such as Sweden and Romania, are considering a ban shortly.

Currently, there are about 350 fur farms in Poland, where 3.5 million animals are raised. These are primarily mink farms, which are largely owned by a small group of breeders, including the Dutch Van Ansem family and the Wojcik family. The industry has been in crisis for years, with more than 60% of farms operating in Poland closed since 2018 alone.