BC Court Denies Interim Request by Mink Farmers Ahead of Their COVID-19 Challenge

BC Court Denies Interim Request by Mink Farmers Ahead of Their COVID-19 Challenge
A mink sniffs the air as he surveys the river beach in search of food, in a meadow near the village of Khatenchitsy, Belarus, northwest of Minsk, Sept. 4, 2015. The Canadian Press/AP-Sergei Grits
|Updated:

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has denied a request by mink farmers for interim relief that would suspend a prohibition on breeding the animals while their legal petition against the province proceeds.

The Agriculture Ministry announced in November live mink would not be permitted on farms by April 2023 and the industry would be phased out two years later, citing concerns that farms would become a “reservoir” for COVID-19 infections.