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Nov 9, 2020

Mink Cull Faces Political Hurdles in Denmark as Opposition Balks

Christian Wienberg and Morten Buttler, Bloomberg News

BORDING, DENMARK NOVEMBER 07: Minks at farmer Stig Sørensen's estate where all minks must be culled due to a government order on November 7, 2020 in Bording, Denmark. Like many other owners of mink farms, Stig Sørensen has been forced to cull all his 34.000 minks due to a government decision made on Wednesday. Sørensen says that he is sad but also angry because he feels that the government has made an unjustified and unfair decision. His farm is situated so only part of it is within the 7.5 KM zone from an infected farm and none of his mink have tested positive for the coronavirus. Even so, they are regarded as infected and must all be culled. He also feels that he and his colleagues have been let down by the Danish Government, both in terms of handling the culling and slow information about how they will be compensated. He and most in the industry are demanding compensation according to the rules of expropriation, but Sørensen says that so far the government has talked about compensation per culled mink to a price per skin based on farmers’ average price in 2017 and 2018, which was an all-time low. Denmark, the world's largest mink fur producer, is to mass cull some 16 -17 million minks after mutated forms of coronavirus spread to humans. Some 215 mink farms in Jutland region are infected with this type of coronavirus, and therefore a regional lockdown has been announced to curb the infection. (Photo by Ole Jensen/Getty Images) , Photographer: Ole Jensen/Getty Images Europe

(Bloomberg) -- Denmark’s government has yet to secure the political backing it needs to move ahead with a mass cull of the country’s mink population.

The minister of food and fisheries, Mogens Jensen, is due to hold talks with lawmakers on Monday, according to newspaper Berlingske. He needs to persuade a reluctant opposition that a mass cull targeting about 17 million animals is a necessary step if Denmark is to fight a rare mutation of Covid-19.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen revealed last week that the Covid variant found in Denmark’s mink farms has the potential to derail global efforts to develop a vaccine. Her government is now in talks with the World Health Organization to figure out how best to contain Denmark’s outbreak.

But Danish mink farmers and the center-right opposition bloc have voiced anger over the government’s approach, which they’ve characterized as an overreaction. Meanwhile, the health ministry on Friday had to walk back earlier comments suggesting that the virus had spread to the east of Denmark, which it hasn’t.

According to Berlingske, Denmark’s government initially thought it could order the cull, but only realized over the weekend that it would require parliament’s backing.

Rasmus Jarlov, a member of the opposition Conservative People’s Party and a former business minister, said the proposal to kill the mink population should be shelved until more details are known.

“There needs to be a reasonable balance between costs and risks,” he said. “Right now, it would make more sense to hit the brakes.”

Henrik Dahl, a spokesman for the opposition Liberal Alliance, said experts advising his party judge the government’s response to be a “huge overreaction,” according to Berlingske.

The Liberals, Denmark’s biggest opposition party, told Berlingske they won’t make their decision known until they’ve had a chance to assess the government’s arguments.

The mink industry, while angered, signaled it would ultimately have few choices other than to follow the government’s plan.

“I am shocked,” said Tage Pedersen, the chairman of Danish Mink Breeders, an industry group. “Over the past month, mink breeders across the country have suffered from completely insane treatment and uncertain handling, and now this.

Still, Pedersen said he was “urging breeders to continue the culling.” No matter how this ends, “it will still result in the closure of the entire industry,” he said.