Almost a million foxes and mink are intensively bred and killed for their fur on Norway's 340 fur farms every year.
Norway is now set to become the 14th European country to ban all fur farming - a sign that fur is out of fashion even in a nation that was once the world's top producer of fox pelts.
It will spare animals who would otherwise spend their lives in cramped barren cages and suffer agonising deaths by gassing or electrocution, the Humane Society International, which campaigns against the fur trade, said.
The ban must now be voted on in Parliament, but the majority of the country's political parties are expected to support it.
'We're shocked, shaken to the core,' said Guri Wormdahl of the Norwegian Fur Breeders Association.
She said there are about 200 fur farms in Norway employing about 400 people under strict rules for animal welfare with annual turnover of between 350 million to 500 million Norwegian crowns ($44 to $63 million).
But the announcement delighted animal rights campaigners.
Norwegian animal rights group NOAH, who have long fought for a fur farming ban, hailed the decision as part of a shift against what it views as an outdated and cruel business with dwindling appeal to fashion-conscious consumers.
'We're very pleased,' the group's leader Siri Martinsen said, adding the plan seemed sure of majority support in Norway's parliament.
Ruud Tombrock, executive director of Humane Society International, said: 'We are thrilled to see such an unequivocal pledge from the Norwegian government to ban all fur farming, and look forward to seeing this important decision receiving the political backing it deserves.'
He said he hoped Norway's fur farmers will decide to dismantle their businesses before the 2024 deadline.
'Factory farming wild animals for fur in appallingly deprived conditions is unconscionably cruel, so to see a ban on this dreadful trade in a Scandinavian country is truly historic,' he said.
Norway is now set to become the 14th European country to ban all fur farming - a sign that fur is out of fashion even in a nation that was once the world's top producer of fox pelts.
It will spare animals who would otherwise spend their lives in cramped barren cages and suffer agonising deaths by gassing or electrocution, the Humane Society International, which campaigns against the fur trade, said.
The ban must now be voted on in Parliament, but the majority of the country's political parties are expected to support it.
'We're shocked, shaken to the core,' said Guri Wormdahl of the Norwegian Fur Breeders Association.
She said there are about 200 fur farms in Norway employing about 400 people under strict rules for animal welfare with annual turnover of between 350 million to 500 million Norwegian crowns ($44 to $63 million).
But the announcement delighted animal rights campaigners.
Norwegian animal rights group NOAH, who have long fought for a fur farming ban, hailed the decision as part of a shift against what it views as an outdated and cruel business with dwindling appeal to fashion-conscious consumers.
'We're very pleased,' the group's leader Siri Martinsen said, adding the plan seemed sure of majority support in Norway's parliament.
Ruud Tombrock, executive director of Humane Society International, said: 'We are thrilled to see such an unequivocal pledge from the Norwegian government to ban all fur farming, and look forward to seeing this important decision receiving the political backing it deserves.'
He said he hoped Norway's fur farmers will decide to dismantle their businesses before the 2024 deadline.
'Factory farming wild animals for fur in appallingly deprived conditions is unconscionably cruel, so to see a ban on this dreadful trade in a Scandinavian country is truly historic,' he said.
Ut is about time this cruel buissnis is shut down for good. Poor animals.
About time! Anyone involved in this disgusting trade should be ashamed of themselves.