The Impact Of The Silver Fox Industry On PEI

The Silver Fox Industry on PEI

The reign of the silver fox fur industry in PEI lasted from 1900 to 1950. Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur. The more rare the fur colour, the more expensive it was. The fur industry typically involves the capture of wild animals that are put in captivity and breed until the desired “look” for the offspring is obtained and once there is a sufficient number of this type of animal they are killed and sold for their pelts. Although nowadays this practice is quite frowned upon, it was once a huge source of income for many Islanders and played a big role in our economy and even the world. Fur farming started off as a secretive and small practice in the late 1800s

In 1910, Frank sold two pairs of breeding silver foxes to businessmen Harry and Roy Holman who than began selling the breeding animals to people who wanted into the fox ranching business. In that same year, Dalton sold 25 pelts in London and made $34, 649, which was crazy since the average annual income of a typical PEI farmer was $320. These possible riches could not be ignored any longer and soon more fox farms quickly began appearing everywhere and just like that the Big Six were no longer in control of the growth of the

It was the largest and most valuable shipment in the history of Prince Edward Island and is commonly referred to as the ‘Million Dollar Train’. By this time, fox farming was still making some people rich, mainly because they had bought out most of the small operators. For example, Morrison and Milligan owned more than 80 silver fox ranches. In the same year, the Federal government also became involved in fox farming by opening up an experimental farm in Summerside with the help of local breeders, who donated the land and breeding stock, where they researched new and leading edge ranching techniques to improve the breeding industry. The Island held it’s first annual fox show in 1929 and for $5 per animal, owners could enter a maximum of 30 foxes. Close to 500 foxes were shown that