A Wisconsin fur farm reportedly lost thousands of mink to an overnight raid Aug. 11 by animal activists, according to FOX 9.
Around 3,000 mink reportedly escaped from the Olsen Fur Farm in western Wisconsin after a suspect allegedly trespassed and cut a hole in the farm’s chain-link fence between 11:00 p.m. Aug. 11 and 3:45 a.m. the next morning, the outlet noted.
Thousands of mink were released from a western Wisconsin fur farm this week as a result of an apparent nighttime raid by animal activists. https://t.co/YuMyuEFRkp
— FOX 9 (@FOX9) August 16, 2023
The Animal Liberation Front, described by the FBI as “an extremist animal rights movement,” claimed responsibility for the raid in an anonymous online post.
“We hope many of the mink enjoy their freedom in the wild and that this farm will be unable to breed thousands upon thousands of them in future years,” the post said. “They have an opportunity now to cut their losses and leave the fur industry forever.”
This is not the first time the Olsen farm was targeted. In 1997, a similar raid there resulted in the release of 800 mink, according to the Animal Liberation Front post. (RELATED: REPORT: Cops Raided Farm To Seize 9-Year-Old’s Pet Goat So State Senator Could Serve It At Community Barbecue)
Mink look like weasels and are commonly bred for their fur, which is used in fashion products. The mink industry, however, has seen a rapid decline in recent years as fur has fallen out of favor in the fashion world, per FOX 9.
Workers at the farm have been trying to recapture the mink using traps and fishing nets, Detective Erica Koxlien said Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
“[The workers are] still working on capturing them. They seem to have traveled pretty far,” Koxlien added.