A 60 per cent drop in value and an outbreak of Aleutian disease hitting 75 per cent of fur farms in Nova Scotia has hit the industry hard. But the taxpayers of Nova Scotia are the ones who will be left footing the bill for a dying industry.

According to the CBC, a $9,000,000 payout was slipped into the provinces third quarter fiscal update, with one official noting that 93 of 96 farmers in Nova Scotia applied for assistance under a an agri-stability program.

The CBC noted that this is part of a $20,000,000 payout, which apparently includes $11,000,000 in federal funds. APFA has not yet verified this information.

All of this funding comes on the heels of a failing mark for animal welfare in Canada, the Prime Minister refusing to impose vital environmental reform because it may impact industry and an extension to loan repayment programs for the same fur farmers.

Dan Mullen, a profiteer of the fur farm industry and head of the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association, is noting that he and his colleagues are “not sure where it’s going.”

We know where it’s going: down the drain. The question is whether or not our governments will waste millions more of taxpayer dollars trying to save the dying industry, or use that money to retrain the low-paid workers and invest in local economies in these communities.

TAKE ACTION

Contact the Premier of Nova Scotia (email PREMIER@novascotia.ca or Twitter @StephenMcNeil) and your own Member of Parliament (federal) to tell them to stop propping up this inherently inhumane industry. You’ve seen the footage from Canadian fur farms as part of our Make Fur History campaign – now tell them what you saw. Tell them you don’t want your tax dollars used to support the death of millions of wild animals for a luxury product Canadians don’t want. Tell them to visit our website and learn the truth about what Canadians expect from our leaders. Because come voting day, we will make it clear.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Premier McNeil and MP (insert their name),

As a Canadian and/or a resident of Nova Scotia, I am demanding that you immediately cease the subsidizing of the fur industry. This industry is inherently inhumane and there is ample evidence of this – from the footage from inside Canadian fur farms obtained by The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals as part of their Make Fur History campaign to the criminal charges against a Quebec fur farmer (who already had convictions for animal cruelty) to the mounting scientific evidence showing the environmental damage caused by the industry.

My tax dollars should not and will not be used to support this commodity – the only people benefiting from the horrid lives and deaths of these beautiful animals are the few who own the factory-style fur farms.

As a representative of Canadians I expect you to seek our counsel – not that of the few getting rich from the violent deaths of mink and fox. I – and the rest of the country – will remember your response to this letter when the next election rolls around.

Signed,

Your name and address