The animal rights organisation GAIA launched a campaign on Tuesday encouraging regional governments to ban fur sales in Belgium.
Despite its decline, the fur trade still results in the death of seven million animals every year.
"Belgium should no longer be complicit in this barbaric industry. We’ve banned its production; it’s time to ban its sale," said Sébastien de Jonge, Gaia’s Director of Operations, in a statement.
Fur farms have gradually been banned in Belgium. Wallonia was the first to ban production in 2015, followed by the Brussels Region in 2018 and finally Flanders in 2023.
However, the sale of fur remains legal, "perpetuating an industry that sacrifices seven million fur-bearing animals annually in Europe," Gaia criticised.
Beyond urging policymakers to ban fur sales, the organisation also encourages citizens to boycott brands that continue to use fur, such as the LVMH group (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hermès, etc.).
A survey of 2,600 Belgian adults carried out on behalf of Gaia also showed that 76% of Belgians have a negative image of brands that continue to sell fur, while 73% are in favour of a ban on its sale.
Although over a period of 10 years, fur production in Europe has fallen by 75%, from 44 million animals killed in 2013 to 7 million in 2023, this industry is still active.
To support its campaign, on Tuesday Gaia is unveiling images filmed in January in Poland, one of Europe's largest fur producers.
These images "reveal the horror of fur farming": they show animals confined in cramped cages with no room to move, injured, force-fed before being slaughtered in a "particularly cruel" manner.
