Mink hunt after fur farm raid
 |
Thousands of minks have been freed in the Nordic region in recent years.
Story Tools
|
HELSINKI, Finland -- Thousands of minks are being hunted in Finland after they were released from their cages by unidentified intruders, according to farmers and officials.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for freeing the animals -- used to make fur coats -- from the farm near the town of Kokkola, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of Helsinki, and police said Monday they had no suspects.
By noon on Monday (1000 GMT) about two-thirds of the 7,000 minks released the previous night remained free, and local residents were helping the fire brigade catch them.
Leif Finne, head of a fur farming association, said the attack was the biggest in Finland.
"This is a farm with 7,000-8,000 animals, and all of the cages had been opened. This was a well-planned attack with many perpetrators," Finne told Reuters.
"For the farmer, this is an utter disaster. There will also be an impact on the local wildlife as the minks are predators who will try and find food. Some of the minks will face a painful death. This is a terrorist act, nothing else."
Animal rights activists have previously released thousands of minks and foxes in dozens of attacks over the past 10 years, claiming the animals are treated cruelly. However Finnish animal protection group Animalia, which wants to end fur farming in the country by legal means, denounced the act.
"Lots of problems are associated with fur farming, but releasing minks is the wrong way to end it in Finland," Animalia's head Hanna Kivinen told Reuters.
Some of the escaped minks were shot because they were injured. "This is an ecological catastrophe," Finnish Fur Sales spokesman Paivi Mononen-Mikkila told The Associated Press.
"Minks will eat almost anything smaller than themselves so birds and other wildlife are in danger."
More than 5,000 people are employed in the fur farming industry in Finland, the world's largest supplier of fox furs and Europe's third-largest producer of mink.
Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
