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COVID Outbreaks on Mink Farms Threaten Animals and People:
Urge Congress to Act

Dear John,

Last week, AWI and its allies petitioned the US Fish and Wildlife Service ([link removed]) (USFWS) to list American mink in trade as an injurious species under the Lacey Act. Farmed mink can transmit COVID-19 to humans and wildlife; if they escape, they can also cause ecological harm. An injurious designation would prohibit the importation, transportation, and acquisition of live and dead mink, including parts containing fur--restrictions that would help to protect people, wild mink, and other wildlife.

While the USFWS reviews our petition, we must also keep the pressure up on Congress to act on this urgent animal welfare and public health concern. COVID-19 has hit humanity hard. It has also devastated mink confined on fur farms across the globe--millions have died of the virus or been culled. In the United States alone, COVID-19 outbreaks have been confirmed on at least 17 mink farms in Michigan, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin. In several cases, farmed mink populations have transmitted a mutated form of the virus back to humans, raising concerns about variants that could be more harmful and less susceptible to vaccines.

This alarming situation should spur a federal response. While our Lacey Act petition addresses trade in mink, AWI has separately called for a phase-out of the US mink farm industry, with fair compensation provided to farm owners and workers. To persuade Congress to pursue these policy solutions, your legislators need to continue hearing from you.

TAKE ACTION ([link removed])

What You Can Do

Please contact your representative and senators and express your concern for both mink welfare and public health. ([link removed]) Be sure to share our Alert with family, friends, and co-workers, and encourage them to write to their members of Congress, too. Thank you for all you do for animals!

Sincerely,

Cathy Liss
President

P.S. Follow us on Facebook ([link removed]), Twitter ([link removed]), and Instagram ([link removed]) for other important animal protection actions and news. Check out the latest edition of the AWI Quarterly ([link removed])!

Photo by JoAnne McArthur

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Animal Welfare Institute
900 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003
(202) 337-2332 | www.awionline.org ([link removed])

The Animal Welfare Institute is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1951 and dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. We seek better treatment of animals everywhere: in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce, at home, and in the wild.

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900 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003