Horrifying footage has shown the grim reality of mink farms in Lithuania, where defenseless animals are beaten and thrown into chambers where they are gassed to death.
Animal rights activists captured grim footage from inside the ‘kill box’ where the mink can be seen writhing in agony and desperately trying to escape from the chamber’s dark depths.
But the minks cannot escape, and video shows them writhing in pain before spasming and dying on top of each other on a farm in Lithuania.
More footage shows farmworkers beating the minks before removing them from their tiny cages and throwing them into the deadly gas chambers.
Some of the desperate animals can be seen trying to hold on to their cages before they are thrown into the box where they are gassed to death. Their corpses are then skinned with the skin that is sold in the fashion industry.
The images, captured over four years on eight farms in Lithuania, were released ahead of a vote in the Lithuanian Parliament on whether to ban fur farming on June 6.
Animal rights activists captured grim footage from inside the ‘kill box’ where the mink can be seen writhing in agony and desperately trying to escape from the chamber’s dark depths. But the minks cannot escape and die on top of each other.
In the video, the researchers document the harsh conditions mink are kept in on farms, confined to tiny wire cages where they walk around due to stress.
The heartbreaking footage was captured by animal protection group Tušti Narvai and shared exclusively with MailOnline by Humane Society International.
Claire Bass, Humane Society International’s senior director of campaigns and public affairs, told MailOnline: “I’ve been to fur farms myself and seen the suffering firsthand, but seeing so many hours of footage spanning several years and showing the systematic abuse of mink for fur fashion is horrendous.’
‘These incidents cannot be dismissed as unique. This level of cruelty is the daily reality of animals suffering on fur farms and the only way to stop it is to ban fur farms once and for all.
“I urge Lithuanian politicians to vote for a fur farming ban as soon as possible.”
Investigators filmed at eight fur farms in Lithuania in 2019, 2022 and 2023, and activists said it showed that incidents of animal cruelty “are not isolated, but a repeated and routine part of the industry.”
Fur farms are located in Mažeikiai, Prienai, Panevėžys, Ukmergė, Kelmė, Šiauliai and Kaunas districts.
In the video, the researchers document the harsh conditions mink are kept in on farms, confined to tiny wire cages where they walk around due to stress.
Farm workers can be seen removing some of the minks from their small cages and throwing them into the gas chambers.
The video shows the screeching mink trying to escape the dark gas chambers, but one by one, they go into spasms and die on top of each other.
More footage shows farmworkers beating the minks before removing them from their tiny cages and throwing them into the deadly gas chambers.
Farm workers are seen throwing the mink into the gas chamber at a farm in Lithuania.
Their corpses can be seen on top of the wire cages in which they had been confined for months before being flayed so that their skin could be used in the fashion industry.
Gabrielė Vaitkevičiūtė, CEO of Tušti Narvai, said: ‘Such treatment of animals is unfathomable and unforgivable. Fur farmers call this process ‘putting animals to sleep’. Sounds like putting someone to sleep? What most people can’t even look at because of how hideous it is, is standard practice on fur farms.
Vaitkevičiūtė said the footage of the mink being gassed to death inside the gas chamber came from 2019, but activists at the time had decided it was too distressing, but with the Lithuanian parliament set to vote on a new bill banning mink fur farms next month, they decided to release it now.
“We decided not to release the gas chamber footage when we originally filmed it because we thought it was too distressing for people to see,” Vaitkevičiūtė said. “But the people and the politicians need to see the real horror now.
‘In all the videos, the murder season looks the same. Such activities should be completely prohibited. It is never justified to torture animals for the sake of fashion.
Lithuanian lawmakers will vote next month on a government proposal to ban fur farms from 2027 after a long campaign by animal rights groups.
There are approximately 44 mink fur farms in Lithuania with around 1 million animals.
More footage shows farmworkers beating the minks before removing them from their tiny cages and throwing them into the deadly gas chambers.
Some of the desperate animals can be seen trying to hold on to their cages before they are thrown into the box where they are gassed to death. Their corpses are then skinned with the skin that is sold in the fashion industry.
In the mink farming industry, most male animals are gassed and skinned after the breeding process that takes place in the spring.
Females generally give birth between April and May, and their young are carried as soon as they are weaned, around six to eight weeks later.
The young are then allowed to grow for eight months until slaughter season, which usually takes place in November and December.
Most animals on farms will usually die during this period, including mink mothers that farmers do not plan to keep to breed next year.
Fur farming has been banned throughout the UK since 2003 and has been banned in 19 European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
In 2020, the Hungarian government banned the farming of animals for fur, including mink and foxes.
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