Fear, Determination, and Relief: My Night on a Fur Farm

Investigators use optical aids as they approach a fur farm in the early hours of the morning, where hundreds of foxes and raccoon dogs are kept. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

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The only good thing about going to a fur farm is leaving the fur farm. Better yet if you’ve got an extra somebody with you. We came as six and left as seven.

A small fox at a fur farm stands at the back of a bare, wire-floored cage, unable to escape. Investigators have entered the farm during the early morning hours to document the foxes and raccoon dogs living in the farm's cages. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

A small fox at a fur farm stands at the back of a bare, wire-floored cage, unable to escape. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

After visiting a fur farm housing hundreds of foxes and raccoon dogs, investigators return to their car with a rescued raccoon dog destined for a sanctuary. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

Photographer: Jo-Anne McArthur

Written by: Jo-Anne McArthur

By all standards, it was a calm investigative night with Anima International, an animal rights organization in Poland. We entered and left without any alarms or alerts.

It was a big farm with long rows of foxes and raccoon dogs. Some despondent, barely moving. Others pacing frantically within their small space. We saw blindness. Infections. Weak and impaired legs from living conditions, resulting in a condition known as “bent feet” (or carpal hyperextension). Faeces were piled high below many of the cages. What a stench to live above for animals with such sensitive snouts. And as with all fur farms, these animals live on a wire floor so that excretions can just fall through. If there’s a wooden bracket supporting the cage floor, animals try to stand and rest, at least with a few of their paws or their backend, on that narrow little beam.

A portrait of a fox at a fur farm, showing an infected and partially blind eye. Investigators are at the farm in the early morning hours to document the foxes and raccoon dogs confined in the farm's cages. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

A portrait of one of the sick foxes on the fur farm. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

A red fox confined to a bare, wire-floored cage at a fur farm stares out as an investigator documents the fox's living conditions. Investigators are at the farm in the early morning to document the foxes and raccoon dogs held in the farm's cages. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

A red fox confined to a bare, wire-floored cage at a fur farm stares out as an investigator documents the fox’s living conditions. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

A silver fox lies on a bare wire floor inside a fur farm cage. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

Shooting in the dark is hard, and so is achieving well-exposed images with our LED lights, which can easily cause overexposure with the strong contrast between bright and night. The animals are moving, and we’re shooting through wires and cobwebs. Time on farms feels borrowed, and we are always prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, so there’s no luxury in taking the time to set up the perfect shot. When I’m at farms, I’m perpetually swearing under my breath because of the shooting conditions—and the conditions these poor animals live in.

In the early morning hours, investigators at a fur farm shine lights inside cages to document the foxes and raccoon dogs held there. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

A white raccoon dog peers out of a fur farm cage as an investigator opens the cage beside them to remove the female white raccoon dog inside.The investigators are at the farm early in the morning to document the foxes and raccoon dogs living there and are taking her with them to live at a sanctuary. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

A white raccoon dog peers out of a fur farm cage as an investigator opens the cage beside them to remove the female white raccoon dog inside. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

A female white raccoon dog sits in the arms of an investigator who carries her from a cage at a fur farm. The investigators are at the farm early in the morning to document the foxes and raccoon dogs living there and are taking her with them to live at a sanctuary. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

A female white raccoon dog sits in the arms of an investigator who carries her from a cage at a fur farm. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

The white raccoon dog gave little resistance when Bogna Wiltowska took her from the cage and placed her in a carrier. Getting the carrier over the tall corrugated fence made for a heavy, awkward lift. We returned to our secret parking space deep in the woods and arrived home around 5:00 am? These nights become a blur.

An investigator wearing a biohazard suit carefully climbs over a tall fence to exit a fur farm while holding a heavy carrying crate containing a rescued raccoon dog. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

Investigators return to their car after visiting a fur farm that houses hundreds of foxes and raccoon dogs. They carry with them a rescued raccoon dog who will go on to live at a sanctuary. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

Investigators return to their car after visiting a fur farm that houses hundreds of foxes and raccoon dogs. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

They carry with them a rescued raccoon dog who will go on to live at a sanctuary. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

In the interim cage where Buba (newly named!) would spend a few hours while we slept, she was given a blanket, a rope toy, a bowl of water, and a bowl of food. It was clear she’d never eaten from a bowl, and she had only ever drank from a spout, a standard watering system at fur farms. It was so sweet to see her pick up the blanket with her teeth and pull it around the cage.

Investigators who have rescued a white raccoon dog from a fur farm watch her move as she explores blankets and her temporary cage. She has never experienced blankets, bowls, or toys. She will be brought to a sanctuary the following day. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

Investigators who have rescued a white raccoon dog from a fur farm watch her move as she explores blankets and her temporary cage. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

Investigators who have rescued a white raccoon dog from a fur farm watch her move as she explores toys and her temporary cage. She has never seen blankets, bowls, or toys. She will be brought to a sanctuary the following day. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

Investigators who have rescued a white raccoon dog from a fur farm watch her move as she explores toys and her temporary cage. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

I awoke later than the other activists at 9:45 am and dashed into Buba’s room. She interacted with Bogna and Sylwia Prokopiak; sniffing, accepting treats and pets. She seemed so docile, and I wondered why. She barely reacted to sights and sounds. Was she partially or fully blind or deaf? Was she happy and accepting, or dazed and broken? I thought about how she had had zero life experience. She doesn’t know what anything is; she doesn’t know more than what has been the view beyond her cage, which was a wall, a bit of grass, a bit of sky, and other animals in identical cages. What happens to intuition and instinct when they are completely deprived of experience and context?

Investigator and animal advocate Bogna Wiltowska (right) and a colleague interact with Buba, a female white raccoon dog rescued from a fur farm the previous night. Now awake after sleeping in a temporary cage following her rescue, Buba is curious when people come in to see her. She sniffs at people and accepts treats. Poland, 2024. Jo-Anne McArthur / Otwarte Klatki / We Animals

Investigator and animal advocate Bogna Wiltowska (right) and colleague Sylwia Prokopiak (left) interact with Buba, a female white raccoon dog rescued from a fur farm the previous night. Now awake after sleeping in a temporary cage following her rescue, Buba is curious when people come in to see her. She sniffs at people and accepts treats. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

Buba, a female white raccoon dog rescued the previous night from a fur farm, is held by investigator and animal advocate Bogna Wiltowska for a few moments before being placed in a carrier for the journey to a sanctuary. By chance, Buba is positioned nose-to-nose with the fox motif on Bogna’s clothing. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

Soon, we were driving across a good portion of the country to get to Ośrodek Jelonki, the sanctuary that cares for hundreds of animals including raccoon dogs like Buba. This is where she would get veterinary care and the sanctuary would become her home. We stopped several times to check on her in the back of the car and offer her water and treats, but for the most part, she was completely passed out.

We arrived at Jelonki after dark. When we opened her carrier inside the enclosure where she would begin her convalescence, we knew this was her first time taking steps on something firm. Her first time walking in a straight line instead of a tight circle.

There was a little hutch for her to seek refuge in, should she want it, but she chose to sleep in the larger open space.

Buba, the newly named white raccoon dog who was rescued from a fur farm the previous night, arrives at sanctuary and then eats a big meal. This will be her first night sleeping anywhere but a tiny cage. She chose to sleep curled up behind the nesting box. In this photo, activist Bogna Wiltowska opens her transport crate so she can enter a much larger space. Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

Buba, a newly named female white raccoon dog rescued from a fur farm the previous night, eats a big meal from a bowl after arriving at Jelonki Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. This night was her first time sleeping anywhere but in a tiny cage, and she chose to sleep curled up behind a nesting box. Jelonki Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Poland, 2024.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Anima International / We Animals

Poland is currently the biggest fur producer in Europe (second largest in the world). Moves to end fur farming in the country continue, with organizations like Anima International and Fur Free Alliance spearheading efforts to end the industry once and for all. Investigations like this one can can pave the way for fur farming bans across the entire European Union.

Support Anima International’s efforts: Send a message to Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, urging the Polish government to ban fur farming.

Data sources: Respect for Animals / Fur Free Alliance

Photographer: Jo-Anne McArthur

Written by: Jo-Anne McArthur

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