A - The vast majority of fur coats sold today come from animals raised on farms. In the United States, the figure is about eighty percent. In addition, chinchilla, fitch, finnraccoon and nutria are raised in smaller numbers. The most popular wild animals used for fur coats are beaver, raccoon, muskrat, coyote, fox, nutria, lynx, fisher and even some mink. Mink and foxes have been raised on farms since the turn of the century.
Scandinavian countries produce the bulk of the world's farmed fur animals.
Farms in several other countries raise fox and mink, and the U.S. is recognized for producing the finest quality mink in the world. Mink and fox have been called the world's best cared-for domestic animals, because any mistreatment would show up immediately on their pelts, devaluing them. Mink farmers have adopted codes of humane care that include regular visits by veterinarians. Trapping furbearing animals is a wildlife conservation tool. In the U.S. and Canada, which produce the bulk of the international commercial fur trade's wild furs, the practice is exercised by government-licensed trappers and controlled by scientists.