Vandals Release Roughly 40,000 Minks from an Ohio Farm — and 10,000 Animals Are Still Missing
MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty
Vandals released approximately 40,000 minks into the wild early Tuesday morning, freeing the animals from their cages at a farm in northwestern Ohio, according to authorities.
The Lion Farms USA Mink Farm in Hoaglin Township, Ohio, corralled many of the small animals by Tuesday afternoon, the farm's owner told the Van Wert County Sheriff's Office. An estimated 10,000 minks are unaccounted for, the sheriff's office shared in a news release.
The domesticated minks are unlikely to survive in the wild because they lack survival skills and don't know how to hunt for food, the sheriff's office added.
Fort Wayne, Indiana, affiliate WANE 15 reported that hunters bearing golf clubs and guns were encouraged to kill the released animals — comparable in size to ferrets — so that the minks don't compromise the local ecosystem.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture told USA TODAY that minks are not considered dangerous. Still, the animals can be a nuisance, so the department advised residents to keep an eye on backyard livestock and poultry.
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The sheriff's office said that the loose minks might bite, and those from the wild hunt prey much larger than themselves.
"As a result, they can be a bothersome pest for homeowners, livestock owners, and property managers. Minks have proven to be especially costly and problematic for poultry ranchers as well as homeowners with ornamental ponds filled with koi and other fish," the sheriff's office shared in a Facebook post.
The farm's owner found a spray-painted message on the outside of one of the mink farm's buildings which read, "ALF We'll be back," the owner told WANE 15, adding that they believe the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) was behind the break-in.
RELATED: 40,000 Minks Released from Minnesota Fur Farm by Animal Rights Activists
According to the FBI, ALF is a decentralized movement that promotes non-violent action against animal cruelty.
"Established in Great Britain in the mid-1970s, [ALF] is a loosely organized extremist movement committed to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals," the FBI described the group. "The American branch of the ALF began its operations in the late 1970s. Individuals become members of the ALF not by filing paperwork or paying dues but simply by engaging in 'direct action' against companies or individuals who, in their view, utilize animals for research or economic gain, or do some manner of business with those companies or individuals."
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In 2017, animal rights advocates let loose roughly 40,0000 minks from a farm in Eden Valley, Minnesota.
The sheriff's department said it is currently investigating the Ohio incident.
