Fur Farmer Meeting Backfires: New Mink Farm Exposed
Fur farmers attending a county council meeting to support a Morgan, Utah anti-fur farm protest ordinance hadn’t considered one thing: by being present, their names were now public record. As an unintended consequence, one previously unknown fur farm unknowingly exposed its location to the world: 1340 Island Road, Morgan, Utah.
15 mink farms are known to be operating in Morgan, the largest fur farming town in the country. Yet available fur farm lists only identified the addresses of 14. As shown in information provided to Animal Liberation Front-Line, the County Council meeting minutes have made public the location of the last unknown Morgan mink farm.
Activists obtained the meeting minutes for the Country Council meeting, attended by many mink farmers upset by the upcoming Fur Free Saturday march past their farms. The minutes were made public. At the bottom of the document was a list of everyone in attendance, including known fur farmers such as Smoky Dillree and Bryan Boyce. Also on the list were many unrecognized names.
This week I received the results of a cross-referencing of the list of attendees against existing fur farm address lists. The result: One of the names brought to light a previously unknown mink farm, just north of downtown Morgan at 1340 Island Road. By the short-sightedness of fur farmers, the animal rights movement now has one more farm to protest on November 28th.
To date, the list of known fur farms are compiled in two locations (each of which have addresses not found in the other): Flashpoint (data sourced from The Final Nail #3, not available on the internet), and FinalNail.com. The new Morgan farm is not found in either list.
Again, in attempting to hurt the animal rights movement, the fur industry finds its efforts backfire every time. This is reminiscent of the fur farmers who wrote the judge before my sentencing, requesting the stiffest possible sentence. Copies of every letter (and its return address) went straight to my lawyer, exposing addresses of several previously unknown farms.
The County Council meeting was held in response to a nationwide convergence on Morgan for Fur Free Saturday, November 28th. Mink farmers have rallied to stop the protest, which will be a one-mile march through Morgan, past two mink farms. Morgan responded by amending their protest ordinances to prohibit protesting within 1000 feet of a mink farm. With 15 active mink farms, this effectively outlaws protesting in Morgan. Activists have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance (lawsuit pending).
In following the media coverage and the farmers own words, it is clear it is not a protest they fear, but more militant action which may result. Farmers have stated explicitly they fear the release of their animals at the protest. As one farmer said this week- “We’re concerned about sabotage.” In a heightened state of vigilance prior to the protest, fur farmers across Utah have been noting “suspicious activity“, including numerous reports of people seen taking photos of mink farms (a nearly-complete photo gallery of Morgan’s mink farms is available here). Police have responded by stepping up “mink patrols” of Utah’s farms.
Secrecy is paramount to the sustainment of the fur farming industry. Existing without public support, they can only thrive on “out of sight, out of mind”. With 274 mink farms left operating in the U.S., the world is now one farm closer to “bridging the intelligence gap”, towards the day when all fur farm addresses are exposed in full.
Thank you to the anonymous researcher for submitting this information.
-Peter Young
Receive updates via email: Subscribe here.
