Which animals are used for fur?

22 September 2026

What is their life like?

By the ACTAsia team · Reviewed by our Compassion in Fashion programme staff · Updated 15 June 2026. The welfare findings below are drawn from the European Food Safety Authority’s 2025 assessment.

The main animals farmed for fur are Mink, Red, Silver and Arctic Foxes, Raccoon Dogs and Chinchillas. All are essentially wild animals with strong natural instincts, kept in small wire cages for their whole lives and killed for their pelts at only a few months old. In 2025 the European Food Safety Authority found that their welfare needs cannot be met in these systems.

The animals behind the material

Fur can feel abstract when it is just a trim on a hood or a pom-pom on a hat. Behind every piece, though, is a specific animal with specific needs. Understanding which animals are used, and what their lives involve, turns a vague idea into something concrete. It also explains why welfare scientists have reached such firm conclusions about fur farming.

One theme runs through all of them. Unlike cows, sheep or chickens, the animals farmed for fur have never been meaningfully domesticated. They remain wild in their instincts and behaviour, which is exactly why confining them in cages causes such profound problems.

Mink

Mink are the most farmed fur animal in the world. In the wild they are semi-aquatic predators, ranging over large territories and spending much of their time in and around water. A fur farm gives them none of this. Confined to a small wire cage, unable to swim, roam or hunt, mink commonly show signs of severe stress, including repetitive pacing and self-harm. The gap between what a mink needs and what a cage provides is enormous.

Foxes

Red, Silver and Arctic foxes are the next most farmed. In the wild they are active, wide-ranging animals that dig, explore and cover long distances. On fur farms they are kept in barren cages far too small for these instincts, often growing to unnaturally large sizes to yield more fur. The frustration of their natural behaviour is a central welfare concern the EFSA assessment identified.

Raccoon dogs and chinchillas

Two other species complete the main list. Raccoon dogs, native to East Asia and members of the dog family, are farmed in large numbers, particularly in China. They are also the animal most often found when items are mislabelled as faux fur, so many people have unknowingly worn them. Chinchillas, small rodents from South America, are farmed for their exceptionally soft fur, with many of the small animals needed for a single garment.

The animals and their needs, at a glance

The life they share

Whatever the species, the pattern of a fur-farmed life is much the same. The animals are born and raised in rows of small wire cages, unable to express the behaviours their bodies are built for. They reach killing size at only around eight to ten months old, and are killed by methods chosen to protect the pelt.

In 2025 the European Food Safety Authority assessed all these species and reached a clear conclusion: the serious welfare problems they face cannot be prevented or substantially reduced in current cage systems. In other words, the suffering is not caused by bad farms but by the nature of fur farming itself, where wild animals are confined for a product no one needs.

Why Asia is central, and where ACTAsia comes in

Many of these animals are farmed in Asia, with China the world’s largest producer and the main source of raccoon-dog fur. That makes education across the region one of the most effective ways to reduce the demand that keeps these animals in cages. ACTAsia’s Compassion in Fashion programme works to show the reality behind fur and support kinder choices. Change here does not come from shame, but from knowledge, and ActAsia’s analysis finds a pound or dollar goes around three times as far in Asia as in the West (Grant C., 2024).

Download ACTAsia’s latest Fur Report

Frequently asked questions

Which animals are used to make fur?

The main animals farmed for fur are Mink, Red, Silver and Arctic foxes, Raccoon Dogs and Chinchilla. Rabbits are also used, often for cheaper fur trims. All are kept in cages and killed young for their pelts, and all are essentially wild animals unsuited to confinement.

What animal is most commonly used for fur?

Mink are the most farmed fur animal worldwide. In the wild they are semi-aquatic predators that range widely, so a small wire cage denies almost all of their natural behaviour, which is a central reason welfare scientists consider mink farming so harmful.

What is a Raccoon Dog, and why does it matter?

A Raccoon Dog is a wild member of the dog family native to East Asia, farmed in large numbers for fur, especially in China. It is also the animal most often found when items are mislabelled as faux fur, so many people have worn Raccoon Dog fur without knowing it.

How long do animals on fur farms live?

Not long. Animals farmed for fur are typically killed at around eight to ten months old, once their coats reach prime quality. They spend that short life in small wire cages, unable to express the behaviours natural to their species.

Can fur farming ever be humane?

The scientific evidence says no. In 2025 the European Food Safety Authority concluded that the welfare problems of Mink, Foxes, Raccoon Dogs and Chinchilla cannot be prevented or substantially reduced in current cage systems, because these wild animals’ needs simply cannot be met in confinement.

Education is urgent, and behaviour is learnt. When people picture the actual animal behind a fur trim, the choice to go fur-free tends to make itself. Support fur-free education