... and the Minks Who Weren't so Lucky...

Yesterday, I blogged about the thousands and thousands of minks set free from mink farms in Ireland and Sweden. The critics of animal rights activists will inevitably assail the liberators in this case as "terrorists" and "irresponsible." Some of the minks released were, in fact, hit by cars on busy roads and now the minks have to fend for themselves outdoors.

But in case your wondering about the unfortunate minks who weren't liberated, please watch this video about a mink farm in Germany. Horrifying though it may seem, this film depicts the typical treatment of minks in these ghastly businesses, from what I understand. Films such as this one are not easy to watch, but they are necessary. Even if you think you have an idea of what happens on these farms, you actually do not until you see this video.

Some of those minks freed in Ireland and Sweden will no doubt be killed by oncoming vehicles or other hazards, and the minks may also feed on chickens and other farm animals. But had they remained in those death factories, there would have been only one outcome for them. They would be skinned - many of them alive while it is happening - and turned into coats for people who either have no idea or simply do not care about the suffering their choices are causing.

It's a terrible racket. It's organized crime, when you think about it. The minks deserve better. Being liberated from their cages is not the solution. Outlawing this kind of mass murder of living beings, creatures with feelings that form bonds with one another and do not deserve to die in such a horrifying fashion, is the necessary first step.

Escape of the Minks

In two countries, Ireland and Sweden, thousands and thousands of minks escaped impending death at mink farms after being released into the wilds. Five thousand minks were set free in Ireland. Of those, more than 100 were captured in traps set by hunters. Associated Press reported that hundreds more were hit by vehicles on nearby busy roads in County Donegal. (Source.) Connie Anderson, a director at Ireland's Anderson's Mink Farm, believes the minks were set free by animal rights activists. As Anderson put it: "These people are animal liberation terrorists and had no thought for the mink or the damage that will be done to other wildlife in the area." Bernie Wright of Ireland's Alliance for Animal Rights shot back:

We have nothing to do with it. However, I commend whoever risked their freedom to do this as these animals have a horrendous life.

An even greater number of minks escaped in Sweden - 17,000 in total - from a farm in Skillingaryd in the southern part of the country. News reports mention something about a busted lock on the cage. (Source.) The minks were valued at $1.2 million U.S. As was the case in Ireland, nobody's taking credit for the freed minks in Sweden. There had been demonstrations outside of the breeding farm earlier in the year, but Swedish animal rights groups aren't fessing up.

Critics of the animal rights movement will probably not miss this opportunity assail the "irresponsibility" of militants in liberating these animals (although it's still unclear that activists had anything to do with these mass releases). No doubt they'll thunder on, self-righteously, about how awful it is to let minks run free. But, whether you approve of these tactics or not, there is no denying that these minks have been given a second chance. And whatever happens to them out in the big, wide, and sometimes dangerous world, one thing is certain: They won't be turned into fur coats for vain and inhumane human beings who can easily find other ways of keeping warm.

Trouble in the Old Home State

I grew up in Utah. I lived there most of my life. And much of my family - parents, brother, nieces and nephews - are still there. So it was with much interest that I read the story of William James Viehl (pictured right), sentenced to two years jail time yesterday for setting minks free at a farm in South Jordan, a town just south of Salt Lake City. Viehl set more than 600 minks - 425 female, 225 male - free and was subsequently arrested. U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson called Viehl's actions an "act of terrorism." (Source) But supporters of Viehl wrote letters to Judge Benson comparing the animal rights activist to Harriet Beecher Stowe, World War II anti-Nazi resistance fighters and Mahatma Gandhi.

As for the minks, their ultimate fate remains somewhat confusing. According to the Salt Lake Tribune:

Vehicles hit and killed seven, seven died of stress and 20 were never recovered, said the farm's owner, Lindsey McMullin.

So it sounds like most of the minks were returned to the farm (although the story was unclear on that, as were other stories I've read about the incident; the Tribune's competitor, The Deseret News, also wrote a story about Viehl that was even less clear about the fate of the minks). The so-called "bandits" also spray painted "Animal Liberation Front" inside of the mink farm.

Whatever you might happen to think of Viehl's actions, to call what he did "terror" or "terrorism" is absurd. Yet foes of the animal rights movement are carelessly tossing around the word "terrorism" to describe militants. When an overzealous animal rights activist threw a tofu pie at Canadian Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, a Liberal MP, Gerry Byrne, referred to the unfortunate incident as an "act of terror." (Source) Nobody has condemned that pie-throwing incident more vociferously than I have, yet to call it an act of "terror" renders the words "terror" and "terrorism" utterly meaningless. The attacks of September 11, 2001 were acts of terror and terrorism. Tossing a tofu pie and setting minks free must never be lumped together with 9/11, or the catastrophic losses of that day will forever be trivialized.

If your really want to slap labels on something, "mass extermination" and "extreme violence" are terms that can be used to describe the factory farm system and businesses that tear the skins off of animals for clothing. Unfortunately, foes of animal rights will always try to steer attention away from the main issue. As Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer said, "In relation to [animals], all people are Nazis; for the animals, it is an eternal Treblinka." (Source: Singer, Isaac Bashevis. The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer. p. 271.)

That's the main issue. And those of us who love animals mustn't let the system's defenders convince people otherwise.