Animal rights activists released 3,000 minks from a Wisconsin farm during a late-night heist

Thousands of minks ran wild in western Wisconsin after animal rights activists held a late-night heist to bust them out of a fur farm. The activists released 3,000 minks from Olsen Fur Farm in Independence, Wisconsin, last week by cutting a hole in a chain-link fence and opening cages, The Star Tribune reported. The owner

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  • Animal rights activists broke in to a Wisconsin farm and released 3,000 minks into the wild.
  • They took responsibility via anonymous message on a site run by the Animal Liberation Front.
  • Police told a local outlet that 90% of the minks had been recovered in five days.

Thousands of minks ran wild in western Wisconsin after animal rights activists held a late-night heist to bust them out of a fur farm. 

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The activists released 3,000 minks from Olsen Fur Farm in Independence, Wisconsin, last week by cutting a hole in a chain-link fence and opening cages, The Star Tribune reported. The owner did not discover the damage until the next morning, the paper reported.

While the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Office has not released information on any suspects, an anonymous group took responsibility for the act by sending a message to the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, a site run by the Animal Liberation Front, which the FBI has previously labeled as an extremist group.

"It's operational for now, but maybe releasing several hundred mink has a chance to close it for good," the message reads. "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."

Challis Hobbs, president of the Fur Commission USA, said the break-in may have done more harm than good for the mink.

"They basically just die because there's nothing to eat, and they don't have burrows to find security from predator attacks," Hobbs told the Star Tribune. "It messes with the ecosystem."

Around 90% of the minks have been recovered as of Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Office told the Star Tribune. The escapees constituted three quarters of the farm's 4,000 mink population.

When contacted for updates by Insider, the Trempealeau County Sheriff's Office said they could not give comment outside of business hours. 

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Watch: Europe is slaughtering millions of mink to curb the spread of COVID-19

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