Today, the Walloon government adopted at first reading a draft decree prepared by the animal welfare Minister, Carlo Di Antonio to ban fur farming in Wallonia, one of the three federal regions in Belgium, as of 1st January 2015.
GAIA congratulates Minister Di Antonio for his decision. "This is a major victory for millions of animals, who suffer in fur farms all over the world" said Ann De Greef, director of GAIA. "It sends a clear signal to the other regions in our country to end this horror once and for all" she added.
The proposed decree was accepted by the PS and CDH majority but still needs to be adopted by the Council of State and the Walloon Parliament before being signed into law. This seriously compromises the construction of a mink farm in the commune of Virton where GAIA and many locals have opposed the granting of a building permit.
The Brussels-Capital Region plans to take similar steps. Bianca Debaets, Secretary of State for animal welfare has also expressed her intention to take concrete measures in the very near future.
In Belgium, more than 150.000 mink are annually held captive in the most gruesome circumstances and killed for their fur. All mink farms are located in Flanders.
