North American Fur Auction Inc. (NAFA)

Our trappers carry a licence that allows them to trap and euthanize fur-bearing animals.  This allows Hawkeye Bird and Animal Control to offer you permanent and guaranteed results to remove your pest animal or wildlife.  But it is not all for waste.  The pelts or fur of raccoons, squirrels, muskrats, foxes and many more animals are a highly sought after export from North America and in fact, Canada’s biggest export to China.

Hawkeye works with the North American Fur Auction or NAFA for short, to manage the purchase and auctions of our fur to buyers around the world.  With the biggest purchasers being China and Russia, fur is becoming increasing popular in the fashion industry. 

NAFA is actually the oldest fur auction house in the world starting out in 1670 as part of The Hudson Bay Company (HBC) which was created to offer fine furs to the public.  It remained HBC until 1992 when it became NAFA and still resides in Toronto, ON with sorting facilities in the US and Poland.

Today it remains Canada’s oldest incorporated company and the 7^th oldest company in the world.

Fur auctions typically occur about four times per year.  We clean and prep the pelts for tanning at Hawkeye.  We must take extra caution with animals who carry rabies since rabies is carried in the saliva of animals like raccoons, it could still be present on their fur.  By the time the pelts are processed there is no risk of rabies being carried on the fur.  We provide our pelts to NAFA on a consignment basis which are then graded and sold to the fashion world, including the services industry like police and military.  After the auction, unsold pelts are used as blankets and donated to communities in the Northern Territories.

For more information about NAFA specifically, you can visit their website at http://www.nafa.ca/

Dan Frankian, owner of Hawkeye and members of his team attended this year's fur auction.  Here are some pictures of the pelts to give you an idea of how renewable and expansive this industry this really is.

 

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There is also another large auction called the Fur Harvesters Auction Inc. (FHA) which is run out of North Bay and founded in 1991.

Sending furs to the auction house has now been made easier than ever with scheduled pick-ups in many of the main trapping districts across Ontario. Once the furs have been delivered to one of the auction houses, they are labeled, measured and checked for quality; all of these things factor into the value you will receive for the sold pelt.

The Fur Trade in Canada has been a crucial part of our history, going all the way back to the early 17^th century. Many of Canada’s beaver pelts were sold to the Europeans for felt hats, and this is one of the main reasons why a good relationship was built between the Europeans and Indigenous people and why the Europeans decided to colonize Canada. Many people don’t realize that Canada is still a major part of the fur trading industry; pelts of various fur bearing animals are exported around the world for use in the fashion industry, but that isn’t the only thing that we get from these animals. Fats and oils from fur bearing animals are also used quite often in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Fur bearing animals in Canada include muskrat, beaver, mink, marten, squirrel, raccoons and many more. The trapping of fur bearing animals is a highly regulated industry. Each trapper in Canada must get a trappers licence which requires an extensive informational and hands-on course. To legally trap animals in Canada you must register for a private or public trap line and dependant on the population of each animal in your designated area, there are limited numbers of animals that can be trapped each year. There are humane trapping standards that have been laid out internationally, and all processes in Ontario are governed by the Ontario Fur Managers Federation (OFMF) and The Ministry of Natural Resources. Trapping in Canada is used as a wildlife control service for both private and public needs, but it also helps to feed many families and provide them with an income. For each fur bearing animal, there is a trapping season in which the pelts are most valuable and must be sent to the fur trade or recorded if some are to be kept for personal use. At the end of each season a harvest report must be submitted to ensure how many pelts were sent to the fur auction and how many pelts were kept and ensure each trapper is within regulation for their given quota.   All the information regarding nuisance animal trapping can be found on Ontario.ca as there are some regulations in place to protect endangered/threatened species and specific rules in place for Black bears, Moose, Woodland Caribou, White-tailed deer, American elk, Wolves, and Coyotes. 

In regards to nuisance animals such as those that get into your home, there are a number of regulations that must be followed as the pelts from these animals off season are not required to be harvested. If you are to hire someone to help you with a nuisance animal problem you must ensure that they have a valid trappers licence, be employed to control wildlife by a municipality, or be authorized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. You may also hire someone who runs a wildlife removal business, but they are only able to capture and release the nuisance animals as they do not carry a valid trapper’s licence. All of our technicians at Hawkeye have this licence, which separates us from other wildlife removal companiesand allows us to euthanize any fur bearing nuisance animal caught on your property. If you have a nuisance animal problem and are looking for a professional that can solve your problem, call Hawkeye today at 416-429-5395.

Why Hawkeye?

We GUARANTEE results. We offer PERMANENT solutions above and beyond what other companies can offer. Hawkeye is the ONLY pest bird and animal/wildlife control company in Canada designated "Certified Wildlife Control Professional" AND holding the following licenses:  

• Trapping of Fur Bearing Animals Permit: In contrast to all other companies, we can euthanize the bird or fur-bearing animal, thus guaranteeing it will not return.
• Falconry Permit: We use Birds of Prey (hawks, owls, falcons, eagles) to scare, chase, or remove in a natural and humane way.
• Pest ControlLicense: We can employ chemical solutions to certain problems. These methods include natural pesticides.

Now with 7 Locations ( 6 In Canada and 1 in the U.S), we are ready to serve you better in Acton,  Toronto, Oshawa,  Bowmanville,  two locations in Mississauga and West Palm Beach in Florida.

Contact us today or email us at [email protected] if you need help with pest wildlife/animal control and/or pest animal removal.

Pest wildlife animals like Bats, Bears (Black, Brown), Beavers, Bobcats, Cats - Domestic (Feline), Chipmunks, Coyotes, Deer, Elk, Fox,  Groundhog, Marten, Mink, Moose, Muskrat, Porcupine, Possum/Opossum, Rabbits, Raccoons, Skunks, Squirrels (Black, Grey, Red) and  Lynx