Horrific images from US fur farm rescue prove UK import ban is desperately needed

foxes and coyotes were uncovered on a US fur farm - highlighting the suffering they endure before ending up as a bobble hat or trim on a parka coat. More than 330 were found on the site of the Grand River Fur Exchange in Ohio which also held captive wolf-dog hybrids, raccoons, skunks and opossums.

Rescuers called it “the most horrific” conditions they had ever seen. The desperate animals were held in filthy wire-bottom cages, exposed to the freezing conditions. They were being raised and slaughtered for fur fashion, the exotic pet trade and for their urine which is used in hunting, trapping, dog training and wild animal deterrent.

Some of the animals were bred in captivity while others were apparently imprisoned on the property after being trapped in excruciatingly painful steel-jaw leghold traps, resulting in devastating industries such as missing limbs and paws. Many animals were emaciated and severely dehydrated, and several were found dead in their cages, covered in after the owner had died, escalating an already-dire welfare crisis.

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Adam Parascandola, vice president of Humane World for Animals' Animal Rescue Team, said: “This is one of the most horrific situations I have ever seen—the terror and pain was palpable.”

Singer Leona Lewis, 40, who is backing the Mirror's Fur Free Britain campaign to stop cruel imports into the UK, said: “My heart breaks for what these poor animals will have endured on this fur farm, and on every fur farm like it around the . It's a life of severe suffering and mental anguish, from which typically there is only one end - death for fur fashion.”

She added: Thankfully, at this farm my friends at Humane World for Animals were able to step in and save lives, but for hundreds of thousands of animals on fur farms their fate is electrocution, gassing or even being beaten to death. Although we have banned this fur farm cruelty in the UK, we still perpetuate such suffering because we allow fur to be imported and sold in UK shops.

"That's why I wholeheartedly support the Fur Free Britain campaign by the Daily and Humane World for Animals, and want to see Ruth Jones MP's bill to ban fur imports become law. We cannot ignore the suffering of these animals by continuing to trade in cruel fur fashion in the UK."

Fur from animals cruelly farmed and trapped in the United States is sold domestically as well as exported around the world to countries including the . Documents found on the property indicate the owner sold fur pelts to Fur Harvesters Auction, the last remaining fur auction house in North America which exports fur globally to be used for home decor and fashion products such as fur bobble hats and trim on gloves or shoes.

Despite fur farming being banned across the UK since 2003 for being too cruel, the UK still imports fur from North America, , Finland and elsewhere in what campaigners at Humane World for Animals say is an unacceptable double standard. A Bill to ban such fur imports and sales, introduced by Labour MP Ruth Jones, is currently awaiting its Second Reading in the next month.

Afterlife and Downton Abbey star Peter Egan, 78, added: "Every outlet that supports the cruelty and inhumane treatment of these sentient animals by buying the fur, the skin and the lives of such beautiful animals. We ban fur farms in the UK because we know they are cruel. Stop importing cruelty now."

Broadcaster Kirsty Gallacher urged the government to “stop the suffering in the name of vanity and frivolous fashion items that are too cruel to be farmed here.”

She added: “Until we stop the imports, we are compliant in the horrific industry. Come on, the UK make a stance. We don't want any part in this sickening industry anymore.”

PJ Smith, director of fashion policy for Humane World for Animals has investigated fur farms around the globe and called it “ just another grim example of what the industry doesn’t want you to see.”

Animals in the fur trade suffer immensely, both in their daily lives and when they are killed, often with methods like gassing, anal electrocution or clubbing, which result in slow, painful deaths and are commonly used on fur farms because they prevent damage to the pelt. Responders found electrocution tools on the Ohio property.

Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane World for Animals UK, said: “The suffering, terror and pain of the animals on this fur and urine farm made it one of the most horrific situations our rescue team has ever experienced. It’s unfathomable that the cruelty of fur farming is legal in the US, and it’s shocking to know that fur from animals subjected to such appalling cruelty can be legally imported and sold here in the UK. Ruth Jones’ Bill would end this grim trade in line with public opinion, we hope the Government will back the ban.”