The global change in attitude towards fur farming is growing at an unprecedented pace, along with with awareness about the reality of fur farms. People are beginning to realize that with plenty of alternatives on the market, many of which are healthier, more environmentally friendly and more ethical, in the 21st century there is no real need for people to use animal skins.
Worldwide, large stores, chains and top designers are giving up the use of the obsolete material. Everywhere, changes in legislation are being planned, and an increasing number of countries is voting in laws and regulations to restrict skin trade. With their implementation in more and more European countries and in the US, fur farmers who refuse to adapt their business have started to relocate their production to the east, where the pursuit of profit is often placed above the law. This is how for several years now, we have two mink farms in Bulgaria, and projects for more that are currently being examined.
One of the existing mink farms is located in a village near Varna called Lyuben Karavelovo and is owned by small, local producers. The other one is near Stara Zagora’s village Madjerito and belongs to one of the largest developers in the country. Besides the mink farm, Angel Angelov is the owner and investor in many big Bulgarian companies. He produces sunflower oil, wine, animal feed, he is the owner of a supermarket chain and various transportation companies. He is also the largest producer of chicken meat and eggs in the country, which are sold on the Bulgarian market, as well as exported to other countries like Germany, Greece, Poland, Romania and Russia. By installing the mink farms right next to the chicken farms (which is strictly forbidden by regulations for raising both animals, as the mink is the chicken’s natural predator and they can sense each other), he has come up with an amazing business plan: "We use that minks eat waste from chickens - intestines, feet. And instead of paying an incinerator to burn the chicken remains, we do business" (2).
As it often happens in our country, the fact that this business operates outside the Bulgarian law and in direct violation of European regulations does not bother neither fur farmers nor the state. On the contrary, in 2015, Angelov received the "Business Farmer of the Year” award (3), presented personally by Tsvetan Dimitrov - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food. Paradoxically, The Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Environment and Waters are the institutions in charge of oversight on fur farming.
Numerous complaints were submitted to the authorities by multiple non-governmental organizations and individual citizens (4). An online petition demanding the closing of the farm in Madjerito has gathered over 20,000 signatures (5). Unfortunately, the answers we received are not only unsatisfactory but also worryingly inadequate. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food went so far as to argue that its issued regulations that deplete mink farms are actually incorrect, and therefore they simply refuse to apply them.
With this radical refusal on the part of state institutions to function as such and apply the law, fur farmers are more relaxed than ever, and have carte blanche to do whatever they want at the expense of consumers' health, animals and the environment, only for the sake of profit. They will never stop. The only thing that can stop them is you - THE CONSUMER!
Because demand determines supply. Because the consumer is the one that decides what will be produced. Since they are only interested in Profit, let’s speak their language.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. COME TO THE PROCESSION! SHARE THE EVENT! INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! Even if you cannot make it, it is very important that the information reaches as many people as possible. MORE INFO HERE.
2. #НеПазарувайОтКожодери means Don’t Buy From Skinners. This is our campaign to boycott the brands and businesses of Angel Angelov, the biggest fur farmer in Bulgaria. They are:
Picadilly supermarkets / супермаркети Пикадили
Gradus chicken / пиле Градус
Biser Oliva sunflower oil / олио Бисер Олива
Angelus Estate (Angel's) wine / вино Анжелус Естейт
3. Share this information! The outdated practice of fur farming exists in Bulgaria, because people are just starting to find out about it. Many of those who wear fur have never thought about where it comes from until now. The movement against the fur industry in Bulgaria is gaining momentum, but we will need help from the outside, to completely put an end to it. The more people open their eyes, the stronger we get!
