A veterinarian answers:
Because mink are like any other domesticated animal, they require farmers to take care of them for basic needs like food, water and shelter. When domesticated mink are released in the wild, they don’t know how to fend for themselves and die of starvation.
A fur executive answers:
When farms are attacked by animal rights extremists, both the animals and the people living on the farm suffer. Farmed mink have been raised in captivity for more than 100 generations; they are not prepared to survive in the wild. Many will die of starvation or dehydration unless rescued quickly. And because they associate the sound of motors with the farmer’s feeding cart, mink that do leave the barn often stray onto the road and are hit by cars. It is devastating for farm families too, of course, when strangers break into their property in the middle of the night, masked and dressed in black, destroying property and harming the animals that farmers have worked so hard to raise and care for.
Answer by :
Dr. Hugh Hildebrandt, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Michael Whelan, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA
Further information
Mink liberation: 5 facts the ALF doesn’t want you to know
