HINSDALE, Mass. (AP) – The owner of a mink farm is blaming “anti-fur people” for the release of hundreds of the valuable animals.
More than one trespasser cut through barbed wire to get into Berkshire Furs early Monday morning, police said. About 400-500 mink were freed from their cages, and about 300 had yet to be recovered.
The weasel-like creatures are valued for their pelts.
The farm’s owner, Earl Carmel, said he was certain that animal-rights activists were responsible. “Who else would have done it?” he asked.
The farm-bred mink are unlikely to survive more than a few days in the wild, Carmel told the Berkshire Eagle.
Teresa Platt, a spokeswoman for Fur Commission USA, estimated that the theft cost the farm between $75,000 and $100,000. She said Carmel and his wife kept up to 30,000 mink for fur production purposes, with about 500 used for breeding.
Platt, whose nonprofit group represents mink farmers, said break-ins such as these are not unusual.
“It’s usually three to six people driving around causing trouble. They often get into a car and go across a couple of states,” she said. “They’ll hit a shoe store because they are selling leather goods. They’ll hit a McDonald’s, or a mink or chicken farm. They don’t agree with the ownership or use of any animals.”
No arrests were reported.
“We’re researching some leads that we have, but we haven’t got a lot of physical evidence,” said Hinsdale Police Chief Christopher K. Powell.
Carmel said Berkshire Furs was also targeted in 1996, when 1,000 mink were released and many of the farm’s cages damaged. He said four animal-rights activists were arrested and eventually sentenced to community service.
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