2020 Danish mink cull
The 2020 Danish mink cull was the government-mandated slaughter of all roughly 17 million mink that were being raised on farms for their fur in Denmark. The cull started in September in response to the detection of Cluster 5, an outbreak of a novel variant of SARS-CoV-2, in the mink during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark. The cluster led to concerns that the potential of spillover to humans could reduce the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. The cull was made nation-wide on 4 November 2020; however, two days later the government announced that the extension of the cull orders had been given without legal authority, causing a political scandal, also known as the "Mink Case". Around 150,000 mink were culled without authority before the problem was identified.
After the legal issues were discovered, the government put forward a bill which, with its adoption on 21 December 2020, established legal authority behind the national culling order. In the meantime, the authorities continued to recommend farmers to continue culling all mink on a voluntary basis. A large number of mink carcasses were buried in mass graves, but were later exhumed and disposed of by incineration, because the buried carcasses posed a danger of polluting the local groundwater. A general ban on mink breeding was established in 2021 and later extended until 31 December 2022.
The actions of several high-profile officials were criticised in the ensuing investigation known as the Mink Commission. The criticism of the majority of the officials was later revoked, however, following a more particular legal inquiry. The political reactions to the handling of the culling caused the resignation of the Minister of Food Mogens Jensen in November 2020 and eventually led to snap general elections in 2022, which resulted in a strengthening of the ruling Social Democratic party. As of 2022, the culling is estimated to have caused billion in financial damages. Payment of financial compensation to the mink breeders was originally planned to be paid no later than 2024, but according to later assessments may in some cases be delayed until 2027.
Background
Mink industry before the culls
In 2019, there were almost 800 Danish mink farms with a total of almost 3,000 people employed. At that time, the industry was in decline with falling turnover, with fewer employed and fewer farms than five years earlier, while the individual herds had a deficit of DKK 700,000 per farm on average. The Danish mink industry produced 40% of the world's pelts and was the largest producer of mink skins in the world. The actual production value of the Danish mink industry amounted according to Statistics Denmark in 2019 to DKK 2.5 billion. According to the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, mink fur and skins ranked the third largest agricultural export product of animal origin, with an annual export value of €1.1 billion. According to the DR, Denmark exported 24.5 million mink pelts with a total value of 4.9 billion. kr. in 2019.Beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, began with an outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It spread to other areas of Asia, and then worldwide in early 2020. The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020, and assessed the outbreak as having become a pandemic on 11 March. On that day, Frederiksen held a press briefing in which she with the opening words "What I want to say tonight is going to have major consequences for all Danes".First SARS-CoV-2 infections in mink
s are among the animals that can be infected with coronaviruses. This became a topic of concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, over fears of viral evolution in mink and spillover back into humans, which could impact the efficacy of vaccines that were being developed. Transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from minks to humans was first documented in the Netherlands through genetic tracing, which prompted the Dutch government to bring forward a slated ban on mink farming to March 2021 from 2024. The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed that cases of minks infected with COVID-19 had been documented in Utah in August 2020. On 15 June 2020 the Veterinary and Food Agency documented COVID-19 in a mink herd in the northernmost part of North Jutland called Vendsyssel. It was not possible at this point to determine whether the mink had infected humans or vice versa. The disease had also reached several residents of the nursing home Vendelbocenteret in Sindal. The lack of hospitalisations from this source of infection could, according to the SSI, indicate a relatively mild variant.Authorities decided to cull the minks on these farms to prevent further infection spread. In a September risk assessment, the SSI described the spread of "a special mink variant" in North Jutland. This SARS-CoV-2 variant was later named Cluster 5 by the SSI. In September, the spread increased, and the health and veterinary authorities expressed concern. On 1 October, COVID-19 was detected among 41 herds in North Jutland, and infection was suspected in a further 20. The government therefore announced that all mink within a radius of 7.8 kilometers from an infected farm must be culled and the owners compensated. There was already a legal basis for such locally limited measures. The decision resulted in approximately 100 North Jutlandic farms having to cull their herds.
Risk assessment
On 13 October, chief physician Anders Fomsgaard from SSI reported that the mutated coronavirus cluster 5, which was found in Danish mink, could potentially reduce the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. On 2 November, Kåre Mølbak, Executive President of the SSI, stated that in a worst-case scenario Denmark risked potentially becoming "a new Wuhan". This assessment was new for the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Environment and Food, who requested a new risk assessment from SSI and called the government's Coordination Committee to a meeting on 3 November. In the SSI's new risk assessment from 3 November 2020, it was concluded that continued mink breeding would lead to a significant probability of further spread of COVID-19. This could threaten public health both because the many infected mink farms could lead to a greater disease burden among humans, and because a large virus reservoir in mink would increase the risk of new virus mutations arising again, potentially reducing optimal vaccine protection. The institute concluded, "Continued mink breeding during an ongoing COVID-19 epidemic poses a significant risk to public health, including to the possibilities of preventing covid-19 with vaccines".Decision to cull all mink
Coordination committee meeting (3 November)
On the evening of 3 November, a meeting took place in the cabinet's coordination committee. In addition to the prime minister, several other central ministers and officials also participated in the meeting, which was held virtually due to the current gathering restrictions during the pandemic. The meeting was held without summary, but the process was later unveiled during the Mink Commission's hearings. The Ministry of Justice had prepared a case for presentation at the meeting, which contained contributions from the various ministries and ended up recommending two courses of action: either a hibernation scheme for mink breeding or a permanent ban on mink breeding in Denmark.The case's cover mentioned the two alternatives and a proposal for a speed bonus. However, the cover did not contain any information about possible issues regarding legal authority for the culls nor grant legal basis for a speed bonus, and the issues in this regard were not mentioned at the meeting. In two appendices which accompanied the cover, however, the legal challenges did feature. Yet, the full case with all the annexes did not reach the ministers and the other officials until six minutes before the meeting. None of the meeting participants had therefore had the opportunity to read the appendices, just as none of the present officials had drawn attention to legal issues.
In her testimony to the Mink Commission, Frederiksen explained that she as leader of the meeting had decided not to postpone or interrupt the meeting for a reading break on account of her clear conviction being a need for urgent action, and that she had had trust in that the ministers would point out the topics that the committee should be aware of. At the 44-minute long meeting, it was decided to cull all mink in Denmark, including the breeding animals. As chairman of the committee, Frederiksen had the ultimate responsibility for this decision.
Announcement and execution of the orders
The day after, the Ministry of the State summoned a press conference for later that day. There, Frederiksen stated the cabinet's decision: "Firstly, it is necessary to cull all mink in Denmark. Unfortunately, this also applies to breeding animals" and further stated that, "With the corona mutations, which we are now seeing in North Jutland, we can risk that the efficacy of the future vaccine will be weakened or, in the worst case, absent". Kåre Mølbak stated at the same event that it was important to understand that "worst case is that we have a pandemic that starts all over again, with starting point in Denmark". In the following days, the culling of mink was therefore strongly intensified. Denmark was divided into three zones, where zone 1 was infected herds, zone 2 herds within a radius of 7.8 kilometers from an infected herd and zone 3 farms outside this radius. The authorities assisted the culling of mink in zones 1 and 2, where there was legal basis to order culling. The farmers were offered a "speed bonus" if they culled their mink quickly. During the culling process the borders between the zones could change, e.g. in the event of an outbreak in a given farm or one nearby. On 6 November, cullings also began in zone 3, for which there was no legal authority. It was this lack of legal authority in zone 3 that was the starting point for the legal case.In the period from 10 October to 30 November, approx. 15.5 million mink were culled distributed on 1182 herds throughout Denmark. Of this, 351 mink herds were in zone 1 and 512 in zone 2, corresponding to respectively 4.9 and 6.5 million killed mink. In zone 3, from 6 November to 30 November, 319 herds corresponding to four million animals were culled. Of this, almost 150,000 animals were culled in the days from 6 to 10 November on which date the mink breeders in zone 3 were informed that it was only a recommendation and not an order from the authorities for the animals to be culled.
On the evening of 5 November, Kopenhagen Fur approached the Veterinary and Food Administration and requested clearer communication to the mink breeders, who felt frustrated and confused. Upon request from Kopenhagen Fur and the Ministry of the Environment and Food, the agency sent a proposal for a letter to all mink breeders to the ministry's Head of department. The letter concerned both mink in and outside the infection zones. The ministry sent some proposals for corrections back to the agency, and the agency corrected them in the letter. The same afternoon, the ministry sent an email to the agency stating that the agency "have to initiate the culls before the numbers are up. Both on infected and non-infected herds", and that it should be "evident from the letter to the mink breeders that they just have to start". The Veterinary and Food Agency sent the letter to the mink breeders via Kopenhagen Fur. The letter stated, "The government has announced that all mink in the country must be culled for reasons of public health. It is important that the culls take place as soon as possible". To the mink breeders outside the infection zones, appeared, "The culling of all mink must be over by 16 November 2020. You must therefore start culling and furring the herd the soonest possible".