The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says foxes, mink and other animals are living in “hell” at a fur farm south of Montreal.
SPCA officials visited the Monteregie region farm in early May and again this month after receiving a complaint. What they found was “unacceptable” said Alanna Devine of the Montreal SPCA.
“Really, if you can imagine what hell is like, that is what these animals are living in. It’s hell,” she told CTV Montreal.
“We’re talking about horrific, horrific conditions. It’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Devine said the animals are “sitting on top of each other” in tight spaces and walking on floors that cut their feet. The SPCA also said excrement was piling up in cages, and that animals didn’t have access to clean water or medical care.
Following the SPCA’s two visits to the farm, six mink and foxes were euthanized and several animals were seized because the owner didn’t have the proper paperwork to keep them.
The SPCA said the case points to a much bigger problem within Quebec’s fur industry. Fur farms in the province are not regulated and most of them don’t need permits. They say up to 100,000 animals per year are killed for their fur in Quebec.
The SPCA is now pushing for criminal charges to be laid against the owners, and to have the fur farm closed and all the animals seized.
With a report from CTV Montreal’s Aphrodite Salas
