The Honourable Andrzej Duda Kancelaria Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej ul. Wiejska 10 00-902 Warszawa 10 August 2015 Via e-mail: [email protected] Dear Mr President, We would like to send you our congratulations for being elected the President of the Republic of Poland. We hope your presidency will bring about important changes for animals. Today, we would like to ask you to take a stand by advocating a ban on fur farming in Poland. Unfortunately, Poland became one of the biggest players in this cruel business, and we need strong politicians to act decisively in favour of animals who are confined and slated to be killed and skinned at Polish fur farms. There are around 800 fur farms in Poland today, which means that almost 10 million minks, 300,000 to 400,000 foxes and 2,000 to 3,000 racoon dogs are killed for their fur every year in Poland. It is important to remember that these wild animals naturally live in huge territories, encompassing hundreds of hectares. A wire cage is a tiny prison compared to their natural habitat. Cannibalism, injuries, illness, lack of veterinary care, aggression and stereotypical types of behaviour were some of the systematic problems observed on Polish fur farms during investigations of Otwarte Klatki. The findings were published in two reports titled "Fur Price" and "Predatory Business". PETA's investigations of fur farms in other European countries have confirmed that animals on fur farms suffer from neglect, starvation and thirst and often have untreated bloody wounds. Social, intelligent and curious animals such as foxes, minks, beavers, ferrets and raccoon dogs should be treated with respect regarding their natural needs and not gassed, shot or electrocuted for fashion. To stop this unnecessary cruelty, fur farming needs to be banned, as it already has been in many countries, including Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Fox farming is banned in Denmark and the Netherlands. In July 2015, the Bundesrat of Germany introduced a bill to ban fur farming, stating that there is no reasonable cause to kill animals for "luxury" products since fake fur is a suitable alternative in the 21st century. According to a public opinion poll by the Homo Homini polling institute in 2014, 55 per cent of the people in Poland already support a ban on fur farms. We would like to ask you to consider a presidential initiative to ban fur farming in order to save the lives of millions of animals in the near future. We thank you for your time and consideration. Yours sincerely, Harald Ullmann Vice President PETA Germany Paweł Rawicki Vice President Otwarte Klatki
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