About 500 minks escaped from a farm in Brant County
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
The Canadian Mink Breeders Association (CMBA) is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the capture of those responsible for vandalizing a mink farm in Brant County.
On April 30, police were called to a mink farm on Maple Grove Road around 7 a.m. where they discovered holes cut into a barn wall; the hole was big enough for someone to go through and led to 500 minks escaping.
Most were recovered, but many of the kits (baby minks) will die as a result of being separated from their mothers.
“We are shocked that any person or group would commit such a cruel and irresponsible act. Most of these mink were nursing females; their newborn kits are all under two weeks old – some are only days old -- they are completely dependent on their mothers for warmth and frequent feeding at this stage and many will die,” said CMBA president Marianne Patten in a press release.”
This isn’t the first incident to take place at a mink farm.
Last July, about 300 minks were released from a farm on Jones Baseline in Guelph and another 6,800 were released from a farm near St. Mary’s.
In the CMBA release, Kirk Rankin, a mink farmer and former organization president, called the act “despicable and irresponsible,” saying the ones that survive put domesticated ducks or chickens in danger.
“Releasing nursing females is cruel and just plain stupid.”