25,000-40,000 Minks Were Set Free From A Fur Farm In Ohio; 10,000 Of Them Remain Unaccounted For

An estimated 25,000 to 40,000 minks who were being held hostage in tiny crates at the Lion Farms USA Mink Farm in Hoaglin Township, Ohio, were set free this week. An estimated 10,000 minks are still unaccounted for.

The people who released the minks from their cages most-likely believed that they were helping the captive animals escape from an excruciatingly painful life, and senseless death, at a fur farm.

That is true, but sadly, stories like these are like double-edged swords. While the animals were saved from being brutally killed and skinned for their fur had they not been set free, authorities are now calling trappers to catch the animals and allowing people to kill them if they find them on their property.

Sadly, not enough has changed since an article was published in 2020 by Born Free USA called Silent Suffering in Our Own Backyard: Fur Farming in the United States. While compassionate consumers refuse to purchase products made from real fur and many retailers and designers have eliminated fur from their fashion lines, somehow, these “slaughterhouses” still exist.

As per the report, despite many countries around the world banning the cruel practice of fur farming for the sole purpose of skinning animals to use their pelts for clothing, the U.S. has fallen behind and has taken no progressive steps in more than a decade to protect animals from this miserable fate. Some states were found to have no regulations at all to provide even minimum protection for animals in fur farms, while others could not even tell researchers which of their departments of state was responsible for fur farm oversight and governance.

Tragically, millions of animals continue to be raised and killed for their fur each year. Currently, at least 250 fur farms operate across 21 states in the United States alone, which collectively generates approximately three million pelts per year. Sadly, the majority come from farmed mink.

As noted by Humane Society International, animals bred for their fur also include foxes, rabbits, and raccoon dogs. As with mink, the animals are confined to small, barren, wire cages for their entire lives. Unable to express their basic natural behaviors such as digging, roaming large territories and, for semi-aquatic mink, swimming and diving. These naturally active and curious animals have been shown to display the stereotypical behavior of mental distress such as repeated pacing and circling inside their cages. Such confined spaces can also result in animals self-mutilating and fighting with their cage mates.

We pray that the remaining 10,000 minks that were set free in Ohio will be unharmed by trappers and landowners and will be able to survive in the wild on their own. We believe that the intentions of the animal liberators were to only help the animals and not harm them. This is yet one more reason that collectively, we must say no to fur.

You can help all animals and our planet by choosing compassion on your plate and in your glass. #GoVeg