Danish government faces harsh criticism over illegal order to cull all mink

[Queen Bitch 10,513]

The government is facing increasing criticism after it emerged that it had no legal basis for an order to cull minks outside of specified coronavirus risk zones.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said the Ministry of Food and the Environment should have informed mink fur farmers and the public earlier that a government directive to cull the country’s minks was illegal.

Last week, the government ordered all farmed minks in the country, sick or healthy, to be culled.

The order came in response to scientific evidence showing that a mutation of the new coronavirus detected in minks and then passed back to humans could endanger the efficacy of a future Covid-19 vaccine.

Up to 17 million minks are to be culled as a result, effectively bringing about the end of the mink fur industry in Denmark, which is worth billions of kroner annually.

However, it has since emerged that the government had no legal basis on which to order the culling of minks outside of risk zones for coronavirus transmission, defined as areas within a certain radius of confirmed coronavirus in minks.

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (Fødevarestyrelsen) did not officially inform mink farmers of the issue until Tuesday, despite the government becoming aware of the legal issue during the weekend, news wire Ritzau reports.

Frederiksen said responsibility for communication lies with the authorities.

“It is my clear expectation that the minister of environment and food [Mogens Jensen, ed.] (communicates),” she said following the parliamentary questions.

“I have a clear expectation that, when mistakes occur, they are corrected by ministers,” she added.

The government is facing strong rebukes from other political parties over the directive.

“The prime minister gave an illegal directive. I don’t have the imagination to conceive that there wasn’t a single person who pointed out you need a legal basis to kill an entire industry,” Jakob Ellemann-Jensen of the Liberal (Venstre) party, the largest party in opposition, said in parliament.

Source: https://www.thelocal.dk/20201110/danish-government-under-increasing-pressure-over-illegal-mink-directive

Several politicians also intends to direct a motion of no confidence towards the government.

[thatfoxyfeeling 13,401]

17 million though 

[Andreu 37,216]

as they should

[Chromatislaps 34,854]

honestly I agree with the fact the minks are being culled, there is another strain of the virus now that will make the current vaccines ineffective. Not to mention the virus could be more infectious if it can jump to other species than humans, minks and felidae.

It is of course very sad they have to be culled, but this is not the time to play saints.

[Papaolo 68]

We don't need any proof that it ACTUALLY makes vaccines ineffective. A reasonable doubt is enough. 

1M+ humans already have died from that virus. We don't need more deaths. 

[alp0707 5,626]

31 minutes ago, Chromatislaps said:

honestly I agree with the fact the minks are being culled, there is another strain of the virus now that will make the current vaccines ineffective. Not to mention the virus could be more infectious if it can jump to other species than humans, minks and felidae.

It is of course very sad they have to be culled, but this is not the time to play saints.

So we should kill all the species that cause any disease or mutations? I dont think humans are that above of all the other species. It makes sense that those poor minks were  culled in infected areas, but killing millions of animals who were already suffering in the fur industry is just cruel. The only good outcome is that this might halt the fur industry

[Chromatislaps 34,854]

2 minutes ago, alp0707 said:

So we should kill all the species that cause any disease or mutations? I dont think humans are that above of all the other species. It makes sense that those poor minks were  culled in infected areas, but killing millions of animals who were already suffering in the fur industry is just cruel. The only good outcome is that this might halt the fur industry

Actually we would be putting them out of their misery by that logic.

Well I didn't say kill all species, but if the virus can pose a threat to more species than it does now, it's better to kill a population of minks to saveguard multiple species populations. Trust me, if the coronavirus was a virus with bubonic plague like symptoms, we would be killing our own. 

There is a difference between having to kill this mink population and hypothetically having to kill any species that have the disease, which is totally besides the point because that is not happening right now, and we have to deal with this situation right now. Ethics regarding this will always be a point of contention. But to answer your question, I think we would kill any species population to save our own.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, alp0707 said:

So we should kill all the species that cause any disease or mutations? I dont think humans are that above of all the other species. It makes sense that those poor minks were  culled in infected areas, but killing millions of animals who were already suffering in the fur industry is just cruel. The only good outcome is that this might halt the fur industry

So what do u suggest we do?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Chromatislaps said:

But to answer your question, I think we would kill any species population to save our own.

That's the harsh reality of life and us as a specie. We going back in times when our species would kill to survive, it's ugly, it's not ethical but that's ultimately who we are as people, there is no denying of this. And to be honest, I think another solution could be to lock them up forever in a cage with only one person allowed to feed 17 million minks with a special protecting gear. But what's the point, they won't enjoy that life, and they were already treated so crually before. If anything, danish government has to ban the mink industry altogether after this, even if it's a billion euro industry, animal cruelty has to stop. We wouldve avoid this if it didn't exist

[alp0707 5,626]

1 hour ago, Chromatislaps said:

Actually we would be putting them out of their misery by that logic.

Well I didn't say kill all species, but if the virus can pose a threat to more species than it does now, it's better to kill a population of minks to saveguard multiple species populations. Trust me, if the coronavirus was a virus with bubonic plague like symptoms, we would be killing our own. 

There is a difference between having to kill this mink population and hypothetically having to kill any species that have the disease, which is totally besides the point because that is not happening right now, and we have to deal with this situation right now. Ethics regarding this will always be a point of contention. But to answer your question, I think we would kill any species population to save our own.

I have drown my car of the road without hesitation because a dog ran in front of my car and I tried to rescue multiple cats after they were in accidents caused by other people.I know it is not the same but I am just a bit sensitive about animals. I just hate that all those animals are killed because we are afraid.

[RahrahWitch 6,985]

The sad thing is they have no life either way, These farms are horrible places.

If there's a silver lining in all this is It's the negative impact it'll have on the farms as well as the international attention it's brought to them, I didn't even know but my country has 3 of them.

[berlinforme 5,385]

43 minutes ago, alp0707 said:

I have drown my car of the road without hesitation because a dog ran in front of my car and I tried to rescue multiple cats after they were in accidents caused by other people.I know it is not the same but I am just a bit sensitive about animals. I just hate that all those animals are killed because we are afraid.

If it were just that we as a society are afraid I'd absolutely agree with you, but as the virus apparently has mutated already I see this as necessary. There is a very real risk already. 
I hope this leads to a general rethinking of how animal industries work. 

[Queen Bitch 10,513]

Welp, looks like we won’t have our government much longer. There are now 78 out of 90 required parliament members who support a vote of no confidence.

This is a mess