I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2185 
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 
MARCH 18, 2025 
Mr. ESPAILLAT
(for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. FROST, and Mr. 
FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee 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 jurisdic-
tion 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. 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. 3. 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 2(a) and 2(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 
$100,000,000 to carry out this section, to remain available 
until expended. 
SEC. 4. 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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Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and any 
other territory or possession of the United States. 
SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
(a) STATUTORY PAYGO SCORECARDS.—The budg-
etary effects of this Act shall not be entered on either 
PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of 
the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Public Law 
111–139; 2 U.S.C. 933(d)). 
(b) SENATE PAYGO SCORECARDS.—The budgetary 
effects of this Act shall not be entered on any PAYGO 
scorecard maintained for the purposes of section 4106 of 
H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress). 
Æ 
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