entre 4 et 500 visons libérés aux USA

[Animal 0]

14 August 2007- HINSDALE — More than 300 mink are still running loose in the Hinsdale hills after 400 to 500 of the valuable weasellike creatures were released from their cages early yesterday morning at Berkshire Furs, a mink farm on Route 143.

Earl Carmel, who owns the mink farm with his wife, Jeanne, is certain that animal-rights activists, whom he calls "antis" or "anti-fur people," are to blame for the farm's loss. "Who else would have done it?" he asked.
Carmel's grandson, Daniel Carmel, reported the mink farm break-in to the Hinsdale Police Department at 3:34 a.m.

According to Officer Ben Pigott, Carmel was on his way to work at a local dairy farm when "he saw that a few mink were running around his truck."
The mink were part of the Carmels' breeding stock — between 400 and 500 — that had been set free from cages kept in the front of the farm.
Police Chief Christopher K. Powell believes that more than one trespasser was involved.
"They entered the property by cutting a barbed wire fence at numerous locations," Powell said.

Teresa Platt, spokeswoman for Fur Commission USA, a nonprofit representing more than 600 American mink farmers, called the trespassers' release of the minks an act of "ecoterrorism."
"It's usually three to six people driving around causing trouble. They often get into a car and go across a couple of states," Platt said. "They'll hit a shoe store because they are selling leather goods. They'll hit a McDonald's, or a mink or chicken farm. They don't agree with the ownership or use of any animals."
$75,000 to $100,000 lost
According to Platt, yesterday's break-in cost the Carmels between $75,000 and $100,000.
At current auction prices, a mink pelt will fetch about $55, and Platt estimates that the Carmels keep between 10,000 and 30,000 mink on the farm for fur production purposes and 500 for breeding.
By 3 p.m., Carmel, with a large net and metal cage in tow, reported that the family had recovered approximately 150 mink from the surrounding area.

They've killed quite a few of them on the road already," he said, noting that his farm-raised mink will be unable to survive in the wild for more than a few days.
"They'll be all around town," he continued. "I'll be getting calls from Pittsfield, from Dalton."
But problems for the Carmels do not end even with a partial recovery of the mink.
Each animal was stored in a pen that carried detailed information on its lineage; with the mink freed, the owners have no way of knowing what line they come from.
"(The trespassers) have ruined the breeding records," Platt said. "They lost the lineage for each animal. (The Carmels) have to start from scratch and may have to buy new breeding stock."

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