Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur. While wearing fur clothing in cold weather was a source of protection in the Stone Age, the source for this material came from the wild. As human populations grew, furs, leathers, and hides for use in clothing came from farm stock, such as sheep (sheepskin), rabbits, cattle, pigs, and goats. Currently now almost 80% of the worlds fur industry utilizes fur farms (Zatoń-Dobrowolska et al., 2017).
The majority of the world’s farmed fur is produced within the EU, however there are other producers including China, the Netherlands, Canada, United States and various other countries. Fur farming is a controversial method of obtaining fur as a source of clothing, as ethical issues are present in the treatment of the animals. Growing ethical concerns for animals have been reinforced by society and numerous limitation are present in fur farming that bring awareness to welfare concerns.