the final nail

Reject mink oil, reject the cruel fur industry!

Mink oil is directly connected to the fur farming industry. To make the oil, after mink are killed and skinned on fur farms, fat is removed from pelts and rendered into oil.

A small number of companies still use mink oil, mainly for leather conditioners, but the oil is also used in pet shampoos, and hair and skin care products.

Mink oil is used in the care of leather footwear because it is high in palmitoleic acid, which moisturizes the animal skin, but there are plant-based sources which contain as much or more of this fatty acid, such as sea buckthorn berries, macadamia nuts, and avocados (coconut oil is another popular leather conditioner). In 2023, Saphir, a luxury shoe care brand, released new versions of their popular leather care products, in which they replaced mink oil with macadamia oil. Kiwi, another leading shoe care brand, stopped using mink oil in its products in 2013, after protests by animal rights activists.

You Can Help
Please contact the following companies and urge them to end their use of mink oil.

Allison Gettings, President
Red Wing Brands of America
314 Main Street
Red Wing, MN 55066
Phone: (800) 733-9464
Email: customer.service@redwingshoes.com, corporate.communications@redwingshoes.com
Online comment form.
Post comments on Red Wing’s Facebook or Instagram pages.

Among its many products, Red Wing sells a couple shoe care products that contain mink oil. Red Wing has hundreds of retail stores across the U.S.

Frank Pohl, President
Bio-Groom
P.O. Box 8070
Longview, TX 75607
Phone: (800) 762-0232
Email: bioderm@biogroom.com
Post comments on Bio-Groom’s Facebook or Instagram pages.

Only one of the dozens of Bio-Groom pet grooming products contains mink oil.

— sample letter —

“I was disappointed to learn that your company continues to use mink oil in a small number of products. Mink oil comes from fur farms, where mink are confined to tiny wire cages, and are prevented from expressing nearly every natural behavior. Mink on fur farms are often killed using inhumane methods. For ethical reasons, more than 20 countries have banned mink farming, including France, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Italy. There are plant-based oils that work just as well as mink oil. Please end your use of mink oil!”

Please let us know if you receive a response.

 photo of mink: Jo-Anne McArthur / Djurrattsalliansen

2025 Update: Ceva has confirmed that, “Distemink and other vaccines for the fur farming industry is not produced/available in the United States through Ceva Animal Health.”

Urge Ceva to cut ties to the fur industry!

Preventing the spread of disease is one of the biggest challenges for mink farmers. Disease can spread quickly on farms, where thousands of mink are closely confined in wire cages. Fur farmers depend on vaccines to protect against highly contagious and deadly diseases such as distemper, mink viral enteritis and botulism.

Ceva, one of the largest “animal health” companies in the world, is the main producer of vaccines for mink farmers in the U.S., Canada and Europe. The important mink vaccine, Distemink, is produced at Ceva’s plant in Verona, Wisconsin.

Without commercially available vaccines, the fur industry dies.

The fur farming industry has tried to manage diseases that are made worse by the crowded, stressful and unhealthy conditions on fur farms. But you can’t fix what’s wrong with fur farming! The solution is to empty fur farms and close down the industry.

You Can Help
The fur farming industry worldwide depends on Ceva to produce the vaccines it needs to survive, but mink vaccines are a very small part of Ceva’s business (Ceva has said that it produces Distemink at a loss). Please contact Ceva and urge the company to stop propping up an inherently cruel industry. Contact: