Farmed Mink

CODE UNDER AMENDMENT

The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farmed Mink was released in 2013. The Mink Code’s 5-year review was completed in 2018 with the recommendation that the mink Code be amended in relation to four major and one moderate challenges.

Major challenges identified that warrant Code amendments were:

• Pen sizes
• Access to nest boxes
• Reference to the proper method of catching a mink and lifting from its pen
• Euthanasia methods

Moderate challenges that warranted Code amendments were:

• Identification of body condition extremes, i.e., over and under conditioned mink

CODE AMENDMENT TIMELINE

Start: January 2020
Public comment period: December 2020 to February 2021
Projected completion: Summer 2021 

A Code Amendment Committee was populated and deliberations on potential amendments began in May 2020. Once the committee achieved consensus, the proposed amendments were prepared for public comment.

The 2013 Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of farmed mink and 2012 Scientific Committee report, and other related resources are below.

Code Amendment Committee members

Participants are defined as per NFACC’s Guiding Principles for Codes of Practice.

* CMBA requested a nominee from national animal welfare organizations affiliated with NFACC but the position was not filled through these channels

Please note that content in the transportation section of this Code, along with additional transportation-related content (e.g., glossary terms) that had referenced or reflected the outdated version of Part XII (Transport of Animals) in the Health of Animal Regulations (HAR), or the now archived Compromised Animals Policy, has been updated to align with the amended regulations, which took effect on February 20, 2020. Hard copies of the Codes that were printed prior to this alignment will not include these updates. For clarity, Codes that have been updated will include a statement on the front cover that reads “Alignment with Part XII (Transport of Animals) of the Health of Animals Regulations: 2021”.

This update process was strictly aimed at revising existing text that no longer aligned with the amended HAR. Every effort was made to respect the original priorities and decisions of the Code Development Committee (e.g., text from the HAR was not added if it was not covered in the original Code). In case of a discrepancy between the hard copy and online version of a Code, the online version shall take precedence.

There are various ways to view the Code: 

• PDF version (590 KB)
• HTML version (or select from the Table of Contents below)

There are a limited number of hard copies of this Code. NFACC encourages use of the electronic version and does not store hard copies. If hard copies are required, please contact the Canada Mink Breeders Association.

Other resources:

• Scientific Committee report - Review of scientific research on priority issues - May 2012
• NFACC Code development process
• Animal Welfare Research Needs

Table of Contents

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