§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what procedures are required by his Department for mink farmers to follow when mink are moved from one fur farm to another.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975, as amended, require that no mink shall be transported from place to place except in closed cages or other containers constructed in such manner and of such materials as to prevent their escape. There is no requirement to inform the Ministry of the transportation of mink.
§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information she has about the mink transported from Halifax to Appin in Scotland in September and October 1992; when her Department became aware of the movement; and what action was taken.
§ Mr. SoamesI have no information on this. There is no requirement to inform the Ministry of the transportation of mink.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessments she has received from(a) the Agricultural Development Advisory Service, (b) the National Rivers Authority and (c) English Nature as to whether the Isle of Wight is free from an established feral mink population; and what assessment her Department has made.
§ Mr. SoamesAlthough sightings of mink on the isle have been reported in the press, ADAS has not been178W presented with evidence to support any claims of a feral mink population, nor has it received any complaints of small animals and poultry, which are easy prey for mink, being taken. Its overall assessment is that, at present, there is no feral mink population on the isle.
A 15-month study of otters and mink in south-eastern Britain, including the Isle of Wight, carried out on behalf of the Hampshire Wildlife Trust and the National Rivers Authority, found no evidence of mink on the isle in late 1991 or again in 1993.
In its response to the Ministry's public consultation exercise, reviewing the Mink (Keeping) Order 1987, English Nature said:
Although the mink is now well established in England, it is not yet established on the Isle of Wight.A number of mink farms existed on the isle prior to the introduction of controls on the keeping of mink in 1962. Escapes from these farms could have led to the establishment of a feral mink population many years ago, although there is no evidence that this occurred. Hampshire has a well-established feral mink population and mink are capable of swimming the distance from the mainland. Therefore, there is always the possibility that mink could reach the isle and in the absence of adequate control by the owners and occupiers of land responsible for such control, establish a feral mink population.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will give details of the numbers of mink farms which have existed on the Isle of Wight since controls on mink keeping were introduced, with the size of such establishments.
§ Mr. SoamesMink keeping controls were introduced in 1962. Since then only one mink farm owner has been licensed to keep mink at premises on the island. Details of mink farms provided in support of licence applications are confidential between the Ministry and the applicant.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information she has on outbreaks of botulism on mink factory farms; and how many resulting mink deaths have occurred on individual mink farms.
§ Mr. SoamesBotulism in animals is not compulsorilly notifiable and therefore complete data are not available. We are aware of an outbreak on one mink farm in September 1992 which resulted in around 1,000 mink deaths.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many mink were(a) reared and (b) killed on fur farms in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Mink (Keeping) Order 1992, which requires that mink farms be licensed by Agriculture Departments, does not require returns of numbers of mink reared and killed to be made. Therefore no official figures are available.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is she will give details of the size of mink cages most often found by officers of the state veterinary service when inspecting mink farms.
§ Mr. SoamesThe majority of mink cages inspected by officers of the state veterinary service were of dimensions being greater than 38 cm in depth, 23 cm in width and 30.5 cm in height.
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§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what work has been carried out to assess the impact on wildlife of the Isle of Wight were a feral mink population to become established; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SoamesNo studies have been carried out by the Ministry to assess the possible impact were a feral mink population to become established on the Isle of Wight. Experience in other parts of Britain has shown that feral mink can have a significant effect on local populations of birds and water voles if adequate measures are not taken by landowners and occupiers to control the feral mink.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment officers of the state veterinary service have been made of the extent to which the current cages used for fur farming meet the ethological needs of mink.
§ Mr. SoamesIn monitoring welfare standards on fur farms the state veterinary service operates to the guidelines laid down in the relevant recommendations adopted by the Council of Europe.
Officers of the SVS note any signs of abnormal behaviour in the mink which may indicate that the cages do not meet the ethological needs of the animal. Such abnormal behaviour was observed in only a very small proportion of animals and on no occasion was it considered by officers to be associated with unnecessary pain or unnecessary distress.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will give details of reports of feral mink on the Isle of Wight of which her officials were aware in 1983, 1987, 1992 and February 1993.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Ministry is aware of press reports and claims, from time to time, of feral mink on the Isle of Wight. In 1983 a dead mink was reported on the road at Chale and collected by a Ministry official and in 1992 a report was made to the Ministry of a mink being shot at Porchfield. Officials are aware of the recent reports in 1993 of evidence of mink on the River Medina. Their presence has not been confirmed. ADAS has advised the working group, set up by the Isle of Wight county council this year in response to these reports, on appropriate methods of capture and humane despatch of feral mink which can be employed by land occupiers and owners if this proves necessary.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what additional security precautions her officers have advised in order to ensure that mink are securely held in the mink farm on the Isle of Wight in addition to the general provisions of the Mink (Keeping) Orders.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975, as amended, set out the requirements for keeping mink under licence and allow for modifications to the requirements to be made where local conditions may make these appropriate.
The conditions of the licence issued to the Isle of Wight mink farm were drawn up on ADAS advice following inspection of the premises and with regard to the local conditions and the need to prevent mink escaping into the surrounding area. The details of particular licences to keep mink are confidential between the Ministry and the licensee.
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§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the annual cost of(a) animal welfare inspections of mink farms by officers of the state veterinary service, (b) the administration of the Mink (Keeping) Orders by her Department and (c) annual inspections of mink farms by her officials over the last five years to ensure compliance with the security provisions of the Mink Keeping Orders.
§ Mr. SoamesInformation on the annual cost of animal welfare inspections is not separately available.
The costs for administration and annual inspections for compliance with the Mink (Keeping) Regulations 1975, as amended and the issue of licences are as follows:
MAFF Administration £ Annual Inspections £ 1988–89 840 2,270 1989–90 910 2,920 1990–91 700 1,000 1991–92 520 1,710 1992–93 220 1,600
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action is taken by her officials when Arctic foxes are found to be present on licensed mink factory farms to ensure that the foxes cannot escape into the countryside.
§ Mr. SoamesThe keeping of Arctic foxes is not subject to control. Ministry officials visiting licensed mink premises confine their security checks to the arrangements for the keeping of mink.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) on how many occasions in each of the last five years welfare inspections of Arctic fox farms were carried out by her officials;
(2) if she will make a statement on the accommodation for Arctic foxes witnessed by her officials during welfare inspections of fur farms.
§ Mr. SoamesIn monitoring welfare standards on fur farms, the state veterinary service operates to the guidelines laid down in the relevant recommendations adopted by the Council of Europe.
Welfare inspections of Arctic fox farms were carried out by officers of the SVS on four occasions in 1989 and once in 1990. Of the two farms visited, the accommodation in one was found to be well constructed and in good condition. On the other farm improvements to flooring were recommended and this was satisfactorily carried out. I understand that both farms have since ceased to operate.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how many occasions in each of the last five years officers of the state veterinary service monitored or observed the slaughter of Arctic foxes in fur farms; and if she will give details of the various methods of killing used.
§ Mr. SoamesOfficers of the state veterinary service monitored the slaughter of Arctic fox once in the last five years. The method of slaughter used was by lethal injection.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) whether officers of the state 181W veterinary service have witnessed (a) the gassing of mink on fur farms and (b) the gassing of mink via a box connected to car or tractor exhausts; and if she will give details of precautions taken in the latter case to ensure that the mink die humanely;
(2) what assessment her officials have made of the humaneness of carbon monoxide gassing of mink; and what is the average time to unconsciousness and death noted by officials of the state veterinary service when observing the gassing of mink on fur farms.
§ Mr. SoamesOfficers of the state veterinary service have witnessed the gassing of mink on fur farms by a variety of methods. Killing by exhaust gases from a car or tractor was not observed on any occasion.
The Department has carried out no specific research into the gassing of mink. However, research and observation in other countries have concluded that gassing by carbon monoxide as practised in Britain is humane.
Very few data are available on the average time to unconsciousness and death, but in the cases observed the time has varied between one and a half to seven minutes to unconsciousness with death supervening between three to 15 minutes later. No evidence of undue stress was observed prior to unconsciousness.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research has been conducted into the areas recommended by the Farm Animal Welfare Council for research to determine the optimum enclosure for mink and fox in 1989.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Farm Animal Welfare Council review of fur farming recommended that the industry should carry out research to determine the optimum enclosure for mink and fox. However, the fur farming industry in this country, being one of the smallest in Europe, has so far been unable to support such research and development.
The Council of Europe recommendation on fur farming also contains a recommendation that research should be undertaken in the area of, inter alia, the development of husbandry systems to improve the health and welfare of the animals. Such research is being carried out in other countries such as Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands, whose industries are large enough to bear the costs involved.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action is being taken by her Department in respect of the report by the Institute of Fisheries Ecology of evidence of a feral mink population on the River Medina in the Isle of Wight.
§ Mr. SoamesADAS has advised the working group set up by the Isle of Wight county council this year in response to the institute's report on the methods of capture and humane despatch of feral mink. The county ecology officer is to hold courses for local landowners and occupiers who are responsible for feral mink control, to ensure that they are able to identify signs of mink and the ways of controlling them.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many times the mink farm on the Isle of Wight was inspected by his officials in each year since 1988 in connection with the security provisions of the Mink (Keeping) Orders.
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§ Mr. SoamesThe number of inspections made by ADAS on behalf of the Ministry was as follows:
Number 1988 1 1989 1 1990 2 1991 1 1992 2
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the annual income over each of the past five years from mink farm licence fees.
§ Mr. SoamesThe annual income, on a financial year basis, from mink farm licences in England is as follows:
£ 1988–89 6,267 1989–90 4,715 1990–91 3,220 1991–92 2,530 1992–93 2,185