BOLTON West MP Ruth Kelly is lending her support to a House of Commons Bill to ban fur farming.

The Private Member's Fur Farming (Prohibition) Bill will have its second reading in Parliament on March 5.

She says she hopes it will soon become law and prohibit fur farming - "ending the considerable animal suffering which takes place in the UK to produce fur products".

The Bill, tabled by Maria Eagle MP, is intended to stop the annual rearing and slaughter of over 50,000 animals which are killed for their pelts in the UK's 13 remaining mink farms.

The mink are raised in rows of small wire cages and often display signs of stress, such as repetitive pacing or even self-mutilation.

According to Ruth Kelly, fur farming in the UK has declined by 70 per cent in the past decade.

"The Government's own scientific advisers have said that fur farming does not meet all the basic needs of the animals," said Ms Kelly.

"It is clearly impossible to re-create the mink's natural environment in a fur farm.

"These wild animals have no opportunity to express natural behaviour such as swimming, digging or foraging, which results in serious welfare problems for them.

"I have been against fur farming for some time.

"It is time to put a stop to this cruel practice and I am delighted to back this Bill and will be in the House on March 5 to give it my vote."

Opinion polls commissioned independently by welfare group Respect for Animals and the RSPCA have consistently revealed that 76 per cent of British people support a ban on fur farming and in 1997 the Government renewed the Mink Keeping Order for just three years instead of the usual five.

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