The fur farming ban passed by Lithuania’s previous parliament does not run counter to the constitution, the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday.
As part of its constitutional duty to protect wildlife, the Seimas has the authority to restrict or ban economic activities related to animal breeding if they are not essential to society’s basic needs, the court stated.
The court examined a petition from a group of MPs questioning whether the law banning fur farming from 2027 complies with constitutional provisions on restricting economic activities.
If a specific economic activity is deemed “incompatible with certain principles of morality, ethics, and humanity”, the parliament may impose restrictions or bans “on certain related activities, such as keeping, breeding, and killing animals for the production of goods that are not necessary for society’s vital and existential needs”, Constitutional Court President Gintaras Goda said.
The court found that large-scale breeding and slaughtering of animals for profit contradicts widely accepted moral, ethical, and humane principles. It noted that the Seimas introduced the ban in the interest of public welfare.
The court noted that, through the disputed legal regulation, the parliament sought to safeguard the public interest of protecting wildlife while also limiting the risk of an invasive species, the American mink, escaping from farms and spreading in the wild.
The Law on Animal Welfare and Protection, adopted in the autumn of 2023, calls for phasing out fur farms in Lithuania by 2027.
Fur farm owners will receive compensation but they complain that the payouts are too small to cover their losses.
Lithuania has become the 20th country in Europe to ban fur farming.
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