Individuals associated with the activist group Animal Liberation Front allegedly released tens of thousands of minks from a farm in northwestern Ohio on Tuesday. With more than 10,000 of them still on the loose, officials are warning area residents that the tiny carnivores may chow down on pets and livestock.
"We had to have our department of transportation come out this morning to assess the highway road condition because of the number of animals that had been killed by traffic, and get the roadway cleaned off to avoid having any safety issues that way," said Sheriff Thomas Riggenbach.
From the New York Times:
In the United States, mink farms sell most of their product abroad because the domestic market for the fur is so small. Luxury brands including Burberry, Chanel and Ralph Lauren have banned fur.
During the coronavirus pandemic, these farms have been under new scrutiny from scientists concerned that coronavirus infections in mink could harbor the virus long term or be a potential source for new variants. Congress is considering a ban on mink farming[…]
[The Mink farm manager Eddie] Meyer told WPTA21, a local news station, that the farm would have to shoot and kill any recaptured minks because they were susceptible to disease once outside of their cages. He said he believed the Animal Liberation Front, an animal-rights activist group, was responsible for the release, because the words "ALF We'll be back" were spray-painted on the farm, he said.
(Thanks, Rick Pescovitz!)
