Welfare group reports severe breaches on Romanian fur farms

SIGHISOARA, Romania — In a dingy basement, chinchillas bred to provide the fashion industry with their fur bite the wire of cages that are stacked floor-to-ceiling with no natural light, as their babies struggle across the wire-mesh floors.

The scene captured on video is among the findings from an undercover investigation into conditions on Romania’s chinchilla fur farms, carried out last year by the animal welfare charity Humane Society International.

HSI said it uncovered cruel and allegedly illegal practices, and appealed to Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca to completely ban fur farming in the Eastern European country.

On Wednesday, the charity formally submitted a report on its findings — exclusively seen by The Associated Press — to Ciuca, urging him to “stop this atrocious suffering in the name of fashion.”

HSI investigators who looked into 11 chinchilla farms in different parts of Romania said some farmers told them they kill the animals by breaking their necks — a practice that contravenes the killing methods permitted for chinchillas under European Union law.

Chinchillas are a highly sociable species of rodent native to South America, and prized for their soft, silky fur.

“This investigation provides shocking evidence of the deprivation these animals are suffering in Romania for the fur industry,” said Andreea Roseti, Romania’s country director for HSI. “Such cruelty brings shame on Romania and we hope that our investigation marks the beginning of the end for the fur industry here.”

One fur farmer allegedly showed an HSI investigator a homemade gas chamber — a grim method of killing permitted under EU law — which had been constructed “using a pressure cooker.” The group also said female chinchillas are kept in almost permanent pregnancy cycles, during which they are forced to wear a “stiff neck brace or collar” to prevent them escaping during mating.

In response to HSI’s investigation, a group of Romanian lawmakers filed proposed legislation in parliament on Monday calling for a ban on the breeding and killing of animals solely for their fur. It was signed by five lawmakers from the center-right National Liberal Party.

It’s a push for Romania, an EU member since 2007, to “align itself with EU legislation” and join other bloc members that have already introduced such bans, the lawmakers said.

Gheorghe Pecingina, the deputy who initiated the proposal, told The Associated Press it is important that the…