Last Minute Pardon: 300 Mink Released in Oregon
300 mink were released the night of October 4th in Astoria, Oregon. At 1:23 AM, the farmer reported to police that someone was “releasing her mink”, indicating the liberators were spotted in the act, but escaped unarrerested. The release comes just weeks before pelting season, when every mink on every farm in the country is killed and skinned. The Ylipelto Fur Farm was also the site of the release of 1,500 mink in 2008. The Animal Liberation Front (or other group) has not claimed responsibility for the recent raid.
The Astoria area, on the Northwestern Oregon coast, is a fur farm hotbed. In the small town of Svensen, there are three known fur farms (a fourth was recently confirmed to be closed – see upcoming issue of Bite Back Magazine). And in Astoria proper, another mink farm / feed supplier operates from a waterfront property. Nearby in Seaside, another newly discovered farm may also be in operation almost directly on Highway 101.
The raid comes near the end of one of the slowest years in recent history for direct action, with only a small handful of significant actions having been carried out in 2009.
The raid highlights that farmers are defenseless against hit-and-run animal releases, and that even when liberators are “caught”, rarely are they truly caught.
-Peter Young
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