Calls for Icelandic fur farm ban as first ever exposé reveals shocking suffering
18 March 2026 – The Icelandic government is under pressure to ban fur farming after the first ever fur farm undercover investigation in the country reveals shocking levels of animal suffering including animals with large wounds or infections, dead animals left in cages, mink covered in blood and confined in small, filthy wire cages.
Investigators filmed at three fur farms in November 2025, just one month before the farms closed down, reportedly due to financial collapse. Investigators handed their shocking evidence to Humane World for Animals as the world’s leading organization campaigning to end the global fur trade. The footage was aired as part of an in-depth exposé on award-winning Icelandic investigative news program, Kveikur, which airs on the country’s leading public-service broadcaster.
Images from the three farms investigated ― Nedri Dalur, Tun i Floa and Holt i Floa in the south of Iceland―revealed thousands of mink being kept in dark sheds of small, filthy cages, mink with blood oozing from their nostrils, with one seen repeatedly sneezing. Other mink showed signs of infected eyes and had open or old wounds on their bodies and faces. Investigators also documented discarded bodies of dead mink. Mink at one farm were filmed displaying stereotypical behavior indicative of mental breakdown. One of the farms, Holt i Floa, was owned by Björn Hardarson, chairman of the fur farmers’ department at the Icelandic Farmers’ Association.
Although the three fur farms investigated have since closed down, reports obtained in February 2026 through a Freedom of Information request to Iceland’s veterinary authority suggest that conditions for animals at Iceland’s last remaining operating fur farm could be just as bad. Over the last 10 years, multiple inspections at Dalsbú fur farm in Mosfellsdalur by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority known as MAST, report a catalogue of animal welfare concerns that may constitute breaches of the Animal Welfare Act such as animals with wounds, injuries, an abscess and signs of cannibalism.
Campaigners at Humane World for Animals and their Icelandic partners Samtök um dýravelferð á Íslandi (Animal Welfare Iceland) have written to Minister of Industries, Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, urging her to ban fur farming by disqualifying the regulation that permits the keeping of mink for fur production.
Shely Bryan, Fur Free program director at Humane World for Animals, says:
“Although now closed, the three fur farms investigated reveal the horrors that thousands of animals have been enduring in Iceland for the dying fur industry. Dead, sick and injured mink crammed together in filthy, tiny cages, surrounded by feces, blood and rotting food. This is the grim reality behind the fur trade’s glossy façade. Most Icelanders will be shocked to know that, just a 30-minute drive from Reykjavik Iceland’s last remaining fur farm is still operating despite a catalogue of animal welfare issues raised by authorities. Twenty-four countries across Europe have already banned fur farming, and it’s time for Iceland to join them on the right side of history. This needless suffering of animals for frivolous fur fashion must end.”
The Dalsbú fur farm houses many thousands of mink, kept in factory farm style caging. A MAST report from August 2023 shows that multiple mink were found with bite wounds including many who veterinarians assessed should have been euthanized. Others were found with old wounds, a swollen jaw, an abscess, and evidence of cannibalism. Concerns were also raised about the barren cages lacking any environmental enrichment or sufficient insulation against the elements, as well as “repeated escapes” of mink in recent years. In 2024 Dalsbú was downgraded to a Category C facility under MAST’s classification system, indicative of serious deficiencies in the establishment’s compliance with requirements concerning animal welfare.
Take action: Humane World for Animals and Animal Welfare Iceland are urging members of the public to express their support for an Icelandic fur farming ban by signing their online action here.
