I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3783 
To protect public health and human safety by prohibiting the farming of 
mink for their fur, to compensate farmers as they transition out of 
the industry, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 1, 2023 
Mr. ESPAILLAT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To protect public health and human safety by prohibiting 
the farming of mink for their fur, to compensate farmers 
as they transition out of the industry, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mink: Vectors for In-
fection Risk in the United States Act’’ or the ‘‘Mink 
VIRUS Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The pandemic of the zoonotic coronavirus 
disease 2019 (‘‘COVID–19’’), caused by severe acute 
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (‘‘SARS–CoV– 
2’’), is understood to have passed from wild animals 
to humans and has infected and killed millions of 
people globally. SARS–CoV–2 continues to pose a 
severe threat to public health and human safety. 
(2) Mink are highly susceptible to SARS–CoV– 
2, and there is substantial evidence that humans can 
transmit SARS–CoV–2 to mink farmed for their fur. 
Outbreaks have been confirmed on at least 18 mink 
farms in multiple States, with more than 20,000 
mink reported dead from the disease in the United 
States. 
(3) Mink can transmit a mutated form of 
SARS–CoV–2 back to humans. Such cases have 
been confirmed in Denmark, Poland, and the Neth-
erlands, and according to public communications 
from the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion, there is also evidence that farmed mink have 
transmitted the virus to humans and to wild mink 
in the United States. 
(4) Animal management and slaughter practices 
on United States mink farms have facilitated the 
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spread of SARS–CoV–2 from humans to mink. 
These farms confine large numbers of animals in 
close proximity to each other, which promotes dis-
ease transmission. The animals also experience ex-
treme stress, which increases the potential to shed 
and transmit viruses over extended periods. This 
risk is further exacerbated by on-site slaughter prac-
tices that create additional points of exposure. 
(5) Farmed mink have become infected with 
SARS–CoV–2 in at least 12 countries to date, in-
cluding the United States. Other countries have 
taken swift and decisive action to close or quar-
antine mink farms, cull animals, and pass legislation 
to address this crisis. 
(6) The World Health Organization has ac-
knowledged human cases of COVID–19 associated 
with farmed mink and transmission of the virus 
from farmed mink to humans. It has warned that 
farmed mink can act as a reservoir of SARS–CoV– 
2 and pose a risk for virus ‘‘spill-over’’ from mink 
to humans. 
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SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON MINK FARMING AND REQUIRE-
MENTS FOR MINK TERMINATION. 
(a) CESSATION OF OPERATIONS.—Beginning on the 
date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, no fur farm may farm mink. 
(b) PAINLESS MINK TERMINATION METHODS.—Be-
ginning on the date that is 90 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, any termination of farmed mink, whether 
performed in order to comply with subsection (a) or other-
wise, shall be done in a manner that— 
(1) meets the definition of ‘‘euthanasia’’ speci-
fied in section 1.1 of title 9, Code of Federal Regu-
lations (or successor regulations); and 
(2) is classified as ‘‘acceptable’’ by the most re-
cent version of the American Veterinary Medical As-
sociation (AVMA) Guidelines for the Euthanasia of 
Animals made publicly available at the time the ter-
mination occurred, without regard to whether the 
termination is in compliance with other guidelines, 
including the AVMA Guidelines for the Depopula-
tion of Animals. 
(c) PENALTIES.— 
(1) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO CEASE OPER-
ATIONS.—Any person who violates subsection (a) 
may be assessed a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for 
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each day that the fur farm is not in compliance with 
the requirements of that subsection. 
(2) PENALTY
FOR
NONCOMPLIANT
TERMI-
NATION OF MINK.—Any person who violates sub-
section (b) may be assessed a civil penalty of up to 
$10,000 for each mink terminated in a manner that 
does not comply with the requirements of that sub-
section. 
(d) EFFECT ON PREEMPTION.—This section shall 
not be construed to preempt or limit any requirement of 
any law or regulation of a State or political subdivision 
of a State that is more restrictive than the requirements 
of this section. 
SEC. 4. PAYMENT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri-
culture (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 
shall establish and carry out a program (referred to in 
this section as the ‘‘Program’’) to provide payments to 
owners of fur farms whose operations involve the farming 
of mink. 
(b) PAYMENTS.—Under the Program, the Secretary 
shall provide payments to fur farm owners equal to the 
sum of the Secretary’s determination of— 
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(1) the reasonable cost incurred by the owner in 
order to comply with sections 3(a) and 3(b); and 
(2) the market value of the portion of the own-
er’s fur farm, exclusive of the land, involving mink 
farming. 
(c) MARKET VALUE DETERMINATION.— 
(1) MARKET
VALUE.—The market value re-
ferred to in subsection (b)(2) shall be calculated as 
the amount in cash, or on terms reasonably equiva-
lent to cash, for which in all probability the relevant 
portion of the fur farm would have sold on the effec-
tive date of the valuation, after a reasonable expo-
sure time on the competitive market, from a willing 
and reasonably knowledgeable seller to a willing and 
reasonably knowledgeable buyer, with neither acting 
under any compulsion to buy or sell, giving due con-
sideration to all available economic uses of that por-
tion of the fur farm at the time of the valuation. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF VALUATION.—In de-
termining the market value referred to in subsection 
(b)(2), the effective date of the valuation shall be the 
day before the date of enactment of this Act. 
(d) GRANT CONDITION.—As a condition of receiving 
a payment under the Program, the recipient shall— 
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(1) not use any payment funds for any mate-
rials, supplies, labor costs, or activities associated 
with operating a fur farm; and 
(2) provide to the Secretary a permanent ease-
ment on the property on which the fur farm is lo-
cated that prohibits the operation of any fur farm on 
the easement area. 
(e) FUNDING.—Not later than 60 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, out of any funds in the Treasury 
not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury 
shall 
transfer 
to 
the 
Secretary 
of 
Agriculture 
$350,000,000 to carry out this section, to remain available 
until expended. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) FUR.—The term ‘‘fur’’ means any animal 
skin or part of an animal skin with hair, fleece, or 
fur fibers attached, either in its raw or processed 
state. Such term— 
(A) does not include animal skins that will 
be converted into leather or which in processing 
will have their hair, fleece, or fur fiber com-
pletely removed; and 
(B) does not include cowhide with its hair 
attached, deerskin with its hair attached, and 
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lambskin and sheepskin with their fleece at-
tached. 
(2) FUR-BEARING
ANIMAL.—The term ‘‘fur- 
bearing animal’’ means an animal that bears fur of 
marketable value. 
(3) FUR FARM.—The term ‘‘fur farm’’ means 
an operation that farms fur-bearing animals for the 
value of their fur, including— 
(A) the land, buildings, support facilities, 
and other equipment of the operation in which 
fur-bearing animals are, for the value of their 
fur, bred, slaughtered, skinned, or sold; and 
(B) the fur-bearing animals of the oper-
ation farmed for the value of their fur and any 
fur produced by such fur-bearing animals that 
is owned by the operation. 
(4) MINK.—The term ‘‘mink’’ means an Amer-
ican mink (Neovison vison), a European mink 
(Mustela lutreola), and any mink hybrid, whether 
alive or dead, and any parts and products from such 
mink or mink hybrids. 
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, 
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