The bill that banning fur farming from 2026 has passed the third and final reading at the Riigikogu, the parliament of Estonia. 

Annaliisa Post, board member and communications manager at Estonian animal advocacy organization Loomus, declared a historic victory.

“We’ve been working for years to ban fur farms and we are sincerely happy that Estonia has become the first Baltic country to ban this cruel industry. No animal should suffer as a result of our consumption choices. We are very thankful to the members of the parliament who made this animal-friendly decision,” she said.

55 members out of 101 voted in favour of the bill. Loomus supporters gathered outside the parliament building to demonstrate support for the ban (see photos). Respect for Animals has worked alongside Loomus as close colleagues in the Fur Free Alliance for many years now. We are delighted with the news of another fur farming ban and congratulate Loomus for this success after their years of hard campaigning to end fur farming in Estonia.

There has been strong support for a fur ban among the Estonian people. According to a survey carried out by Kantar Emor last September, 75% of people living in Estonia were opposed to raising and killing animals such as foxes and minks for their fur. In 2016, 69% of people answered the same way.

The fur industry in Estonia has been in decline for several years. At the moment there are around 10 small chinchilla farms with around 10 workers. A few years ago the biggest fur farm in Estonia (Balti Karusnahk AS) had about 160 000 animals — 30 000 foxes and 130 000 mink- but in February they declared that they had no animals and the cages are empty.

Photographs courtesy of Loomus. More details here: English – Loomus.