Hvetjum stjornvold til ad banna loddyraraekt / A plea to end fur farming in Iceland

(In English below) Vid undirritud skorum a islensk stjornvold ad banna lodyraraekt a Islandi a sidferdisgrundvelli. Eftirfarandi er einnig askorun a Islendinga alla að taka nuna sidferdid fram yfir graedgina:
Loddyraraekt nefnist thad ef dyr eru alin vegna verdmaetis skinnanna, eingongu eda adallega, eins og skilgreint er i reglugerd um loddyraraekt. Fjoldi loddyrabua a Islandi er 22 og eru oll minkabu. Hvert bu er med nokkur thusund minka i litlum burum, en minkar eru villt randyr og thurfa mikid plass og hreyfingu. Auk thess eru their sunddyr en a buunum fa their aldrei adgang ad vatni til ad synda i a sinni sorglegu aevi. Arlega eru drepnir med eitrudum utblaestri (sem dyralaeknar hafa gagnrynt hardlega sem omannudlega adferd sem veldur kvalarfullum dauddaga) um 150.000 minkar i islenskum buum, their fladir, hraeid urdad og feldirnir sendir a uppbod i Danmorku.
Aldrei hefur hagnadur af loddyraraekt verid meiri en nu og samkvaemt frettum fra thvi sl. vor (2011) syna utlendingar i auknum maeli thvi ahuga ad fjarfesta i loddyraraekt a Islandi. Samband islenskra loddyrabaenda er nu ad reyna ad fa fleiri utlendinga til Islands i „greinina“ en nokkur lond hafa synt ahuga, enda hefur loddyraraekt dregist saman vegna sidferdilegra alitamala um thessa umdeildu bugrein vida um heim og flyst thvi til annarra landa ef ekki er taekifaeri í eigin heimalandi. Auk thess thykir utlendingum Island akjosanlegur staður m.a. vegna thess ad her eru frjalslegar reglur og litid eftirlit. Ef ekki verdur gripid inn i mun hopur innrasarvikinga koma sér fyrir á eyjunni í nordri sem tekur við sidlausu "atvinnugreinunum" sem buid er ad banna annarsstaðar i Evropu. Omannudlegum adferdum er beitt við raektun og aflifun dyranna her a landi sem og annarsstadar i heiminum. Adbunaður er hins vegar aukaatridi thegar litið er a heildarmyndina. Burtsed fra thvi hvort farid er ad „althjodlegum krofum um adbunad“ eda „reglugerdum um loddyraraekt“ tha er thad sidferdilega vafasamt að raekta dyr til thess eins að hagnast a feldi theirra. Astaedan fyrir thvi ad bann vid loddyraraekt er ekki a dagskra hja islenskum stjornvoldum er ad mikill hagnadur er af henni og a medan peningarnir streyma inn i thjodarbuid er litid svo a ad thad se "allt i lagi".
Er okkur alveg sama hvernig og hvadan peningurinn kemur og hvernig hann er búinn til?
Dyrafeldur er munadarvara sem ekkert okkar tharf a ad halda og minkaraektin spratt ekki ur thorf manneskjunnar til ad skyla ser gagnvart kulda heldur helst hun i hendur vid aukna velmegun i heiminum (um og eftir seinni heimsstyrjold) og th.a.l. munad og graedgi. Thad "tharf" enginn minkafeld nema minkurinn sjalfur! 
Thetta er profraun og askorun a okkur Islendinga ad taka sidferdid fram yfir graedgina i thetta skiptid. Gandhi sagdi eitt sinn ad mikilfengleika thjodar se haegt ad sja a thvi hvernig hun kemur fram vid dyrin. Fylgjum fordaemi landa eins og Bretlands og Austurrikis sem bannad hafa loddyraraekt a sidferdisgrundvelli. Skorum a stjornvold ad banna loddyraraekt a Islandi a sama grundvelli!

We, the undersigned, petition the Icelandic government to ban fur farming in Iceland on ethical grounds. The following is also a plea to all Icelanders, and indeed the international community, to put ethical thinking first, before greed:
Fur farming is the factory farming of animals with the purpose of selling their skin for profit. The number of fur farms in Iceland is 22, all mink farms. Each farm has a few thousand minks in small cages but minks are wild animals who need plenty of space and movement and are furthermore animals that swim in their natural habitat but at the farms they will never come in contact with water all their miserable lives. 
Every year 150.000 minks are killed (in an inhumane and painful way) for their fur in Iceland alone, their furs are taken from their bodies and the bodies buried in the ground. Then the furs are sold in an auction in Denmark. Profit from fur farming has been rising and accoording to news from last spring (2011) foreigners are showing increasing interest in investing in fur farming in Iceland while the Icelandic union of fur farmers is trying to lure more people from abroad to do the same and unfortunately quite a few countries have shown interest. Why? Because fur farming has (fortunately) decreased around the world for some years now and the reason is ethical quoestioning concerning this controversial "business". What happens is that fur farming then moves to other countries if the chance has been taken away in the farmers' own country. One of the reasons fur farmers around the world show this much interest in Iceland for their trade is that in Iceland the rules and regulations are not strong enough and there is little to no supervision.
If nothing will be done soon Iceland will be invaded by fur farmers and then there is a danger of it becoming a pest close to impossible to get rid of and the island in the north will be the country welcoming this immoral "line of business" from the rest of the world to satisfy empty needs of the fashion industry. The methods used in fur farming are simply inhumane, both concerning the breeding and the slaughter everywhere in the world and Iceland is no exception. 
The "conditions" these animals have to live in though, are beside the point when we look at the picture at a whole! No matter whether fur farmers go by "international requirements" or "rules and regulations concerning fur farming" it is ethically questionable to breed animals for the only reason of gaining profit from their skin/fur. 
The reason that not many people and politicians seem to want to fight against this trade is the amount of "money" it brings into the country. So while the money flows into the country and boosts the national economy politicians seem to find "everything is OK", anything can be justified while there is money! Or can it? Do we really not care how and from where the money comes, just that it does?
Animal fur is a so-called luxury which none of us really need. Fur farming as we know it today is born from not necessity e.g. to keep warm, but from increased financial prosperity followed by high standard of living after WW2. Therefore it holds hands with luxury and greed and fur is often the trademark of the upper class and the wealthy.
No one needs fur exept the animal it belongs to! Iceland and the whole international community is faced with a test when it comes to looking in the eyes of our fellow animals. It is a test of the human character and a challenge for us here in Iceland to revise our basic morality and to use ethical thinking to override the greed that has poisoned our vision and our hearts. Gandhi once said that the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Let us follow the example of countries like England and Austria that have put a law against fur farming on ethical grounds. This is a plea to the Icelandic government to show courage and maturity and ban fur farming in Iceland on the same grounds!