The Canadian
Mink Breeders Association is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading
to the capture and prosecution of vandals who cut a hole in a barn so about 500
mink could escape in Brant County over the weekend.
Most
have been rounded up since, but the infant kits are unlikely to survive because
it’s difficult to match them with their mothers.
The “mink
freedom movement” has claimed responsibility. A year ago vandals hit several
mink farms in the St. Marys area, also releasing them into the wild and
resulting in the death of kits.
“We are
shocked that any person or group would commit such a cruel and irresponsible
act,” said CMBA president Marianne Patten.
“This is
a despicable and irresponsible act,” said Kirk Rankin, an Ontario mink farmer
and former president of the CMBA.
“Several
Ontario farms were attacked like this last summer. These criminals don’t think
that people have a right to use animals, fine, but these are domesticated
animals that have been raised on farms for more than 100 generations.
“They
cannot fend for themselves in the wild, so most will die,” said Rankin.
Those
that survive will threaten to kill domesticated ducks or chickens in the
region, he said.
“Whoever
released these mink showed a complete disregard for the welfare of the animals;
they should be charged for animal cruelty,” said Gary Hazlewood, executive
director of the CMBA.
The
names of the farm and owners and its precise location in Brant County, which
encompasses Paris and Brantford, have not been released.
