Iowa Mink & Fox Farm Raided, 1,200+ Mink Released
FBI investigating the release of over one thousand mink in Jewell, Iowa
Actual photo of caged fox on the Palmer Erickson fur farm
After initially sparse reports, the full story is in: Sometime Thursday night, 1,200 to 1,500 mink were liberated from a fur farm in Jewell, Iowa. The target is confirmed as Palmer Erickson’s fur farm at 3374 Saratoga Avenue, Jewell, IA.
According to various reports, four sheds at the west end of the property had cages opened. There is no report of any foxes being released. The Animal Liberation Front has not yet claimed responsibility.
Iowa has had more fur farm raids than any other state, with this being the 9th recorded mink farm liberation. After 5 years of steady activity, there were no raids for eight straight years (2003 to 2011). This week’s raid broke a long run of peace for fur farmers in Iowa.
The fur industry response
The response from the Fur Commission USA has been somewhat subdued compared to previous raids. They are only offering a $5,000 reward for the capture of those responsible, down from $100,000 in past years.
A report from the FCUSA covers the fur farmer’s version of how the raid was discovered:
The attack was discovered when the family dogs started barking in the pre-dawn hours, apparently interrupting the raid, as evidence gathered at the site points to a hasty escape by the attackers.
The fur industry in Iowa
The current breakdown of the Iowa fur farming industry is:
17 mink farms (USDA statistics)
8 known fox farms (number confirmed or believed to be open as of 2009)
1 feed supplier (located in Jewell)
One of the fur farms – the Klingbeil Mink Farm in Remsen – is currently up for sale. A website has been set up to promote the sale of the farm: www.iowaminkfarmforsale.com
History of Iowa Animal Liberation Front fur farm raids
According to the list of fur farm raids, this is the third fur farm raided in Jewell, and the last known fur farm in Jewell that has not been raided. One – the Scott Nelson mink farm – was forced to shut down after the ALF raided it twice in one week. In addition to animal releases, the Hawkeye Mink Cooperative (a short distance from the Palmer Erickson farm) was broken into in 2003. Thousands of documents containing fur farm addresses and other info were confiscated in that raid.
Iowa fur farm raid list:
October 19th, 1997
Circle K Farm
Sioux City, Iowa
5,000 mink, 100 fox liberated
October 21st, 1997
Fassett Fur Farm
Webster City, Iowa
1 mink liberated
August 20th, 1998
Hidden Valley Fur Farm
Guttenburg, Iowa
330 foxes liberated
CLOSED.
(the farmer mentions two actions have occurred, only one action is known)
August 21st, 2008
Isebrand Fur Farm
Jewell, Iowa
3,000 mink liberated
September 7th, 2000
Drewelow & Sons Fur Farm
New Hampton, Iowa
14,000 mink liberated
October 16th, 2001
Scott Nelson Mink Ranch
Ellsworth, Iowa
2,000 mink liberated
October 20th, 2001
Scott Nelson Mink Ranch
Ellsworth, Iowa
1,600 recaptured mink re-liberated. Farm forced to close.
January 13, 2002
Hawkeye Mink Cooperative
1324 Main Street
Jewell, Iowa
Office break in, thousands of documents confiscated
August 18th, 2002
Misty Moonlight Mink Ranch
Waverly, Iowa
3,000 mink liberated
The Iowa mink industry is perhaps the hardest hit by the Animal Liberation Front. May there be more to come.
– Peter Young
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http://itrl.idr.iowa.gov/mx/hm.asp?id=9FD
Donald (Don) P Klingbeil was/is the owner of the mink farm up for sale…
Cell:712-540-6668
Home:712-786-3361
Fax 712-786-3467
Job well done! 🙂 Many heartfelt thank you’s and hugs to all those on the front lines of this war!
Do you have any idea what happened to all the animals that were released…? What they did to other animals they may start hunting..? OR starve because they have no idea how to hunt because thet were farm raised..Have you ever heard about bears that were taken to Zoo’s because their mother was killed. They were never released into the wild because they would starve to death..what a better way to die right..?
You are my heroes. ALF I love you.
Mine too…I’m a trapper. Keep posting the locations of the releases for me.
~*One Love*~ Thanks for liberating so many minks!!
I wish there was a A.L.F in Ohio. I live one mile from a huge mink farm.
Thumbs up. Good job. Keep it up!!!!
Yeah, ok, let’s cheer on the CRIMINALS. What’s next? Should we encourage killing, burning, whatever in the name of fanaticism? “Heros”? Not hardly. Just common criminals.
Nobody is getting killed, relax… There is no “what’s next”, you are just making up shit. Fanaticism, really? If you understand the plight of those animals then the minimum thing to do is to alleviate their pain and releasing them is the solution, until eventually there is no more to release, or raising them becomes illegal.
What they don’t think about is the supply and demand causing the prices to go even higher. Makes new farms pop up everywhere else…I’m a trapper…KEEP IT UP…Thanks guys…Love ya more ways then one…
Seriously.. 1000+ predatory animals released into an environment where they aren’t native? And there are animal lovers applauding this? What about the native wildlife (rodents, reptiles, birds) that will be obliterated by the sudden influx of foreign predators. Oh well done indeed 🙁
Sure isn’t good to be a prey species anywhere in the vicinity of 1200 mink. Surely, a zillion groundnesting birds, squirrels, chipmunks, salamanders, and the like within miles of the site are digested tonight.
Mink and fox farming = horrible. But you can’t just let them out and waste the natural populations in the surrounding environs. Agree? Perhaps fundraising to acquire the farm for sale, and then closing it might have been a better solution with less blowback on native nature.
yeaaaaaaa..
love you my heroes 🙂 A.L.F. FOR EVER!!!
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you all should be shoot as the terrorist you are!!!
Free open space > cages. Good for the activists. Comments above, we didn’t get involved or go out their and rescue these animals, so lets not put down those who did.
Well this really pisses me off. Let me till you people a little something. First of im a fur trapper. How much money do you guys spend on wildlife management pratices?? well im guessing zero dollars. Trappers are the ones paying for wildlife conservation and mangement. Second off i have more repect for animals then any of you crazy idoits do. Have you ever heard of controling the wildlife popultation? Have you ever heard of distemper of parvo? its diseases coon get when the population is to high. And it can take up to 6 months for a coon to die of these diease. I think YOU people need to learn more about what your fighting for before you going on a rampage. Cause YOU guys dont no anything. YOU guys have no common sence
Here you fucking idiot, I fixed your spelling and grammar as best I could:
“Well, this really pisses me off. Let me tell you people a little something. First off, I’m a fur trapper. How much money do you folks spend on wildlife management practices? I am guessing zero dollars. Trappers are the ones paying for wildlife conservation and mangement. Second, I have more respect for animals than any of you crazy idiots do. Have you ever heard of controlling the wildlife population? Have you ever heard of distemper of parvo? It is a disease that raccoons get when their populations are too high. It can take up to six months for a raccoon to die of this disease. I think you people need to learn more about what you are fighting for, before you go on a rampage. This is because you folks do not know anything. You folks do not have common sense.”
Are you calling me an idiot for not no how to spell? Well i want you to answer some of my questions and not worry about my spelling.How much money do you guys give to wildlife management and conservation? 99 percent of you PETA people don’t give any money towards that!
First of all, Anonymous #2, it is confusing for the readership to name yourself after me, Anonymous #1.
Not only do you not spell well, but your punctuation, grammar and use of gender-biased references to groups of people is very upsetting/entertaining to those in the know. Swimming through your mountains of errors was very distracting while attempting to understand the messages you wanted to convey. We vegans are a literary bunch, and as a tip for the future, it would behoove you to brush up on the Queen’s English if you don’t want to be laughed at. These issues do not inherently make you a fucking idiot, of course. There are people who are dyslexic, those without English as a first/second language, and those who are just not as gifted or educated to express themselves with language. So no, inherently, your atrocious written communication skills are not alone what caused me to call you a fucking idiot. There are multiple other factors that make you a fucking idiot.
#1- If you had any respect for animals, you would not murder them. Period.
#2- If you actually cared about wildlife, you would spend your time engaging in less murderous activities. For example, you could burn down ski lodges to clear the land for more wild animals. You could burn down housing developments that are suffocating wetlands. You could educate human beings on why it’s detrimental for wildlife to create more humans, drive automobiles or support the existence of large cities like Los Angeles or Silicon Valley. You could sit up in trees and use your body to protect the wild animals who live in those trees, by preventing loggers from cutting those trees down to build houses in California. These are just some examples of things you could do to protect the lives of wild animals, instead of murdering wild animals.
#3- When people speak in terms of wild animal populations becoming too high, like raccoon and deer, they fail to discuss a couple of other issues. One issue is the mass murder of predator animals who would normally feed on the overpopulated prey animals and keep their numbers in check. Rather than restoring the predator populations, converting land back to wilderness, or ceasing to procreate, human beings prefer to do things like build subdivisions and murder raccoons. I suggest watching Pom Poko if you’re more of a visual learner with poor reading comprehension skills:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pom_Poko
To address your latest concerns, I give none of my money to wildlife management programs. Words like “management” are just euphemisms for the genocidal, murderous, imperialistic conquests throughout the world by evil forces like the monsters who make up the United States Infantry.
Lastly, I am not a PETA person. In fact, I fucking hate PETA and hope Ingrid Newkirk chokes to death on her misogyny. Additionally, I don’t even like the prick running this website. I am not at all the same kind of people as THOSE people.
I realize you’ve probably come across a lot of new vocabulary words today and might have to mull over what you’ve just read. Again, to water it down, I suggest watching Pom Poko as a primer to open your mind a bit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pom_Poko
You activists are nothing but thugs. Are you going to illegally trespass and release all the cattle and hogs. Your a bunch of idiots that have no live of your own. Many of the animals you release do not survive the streets and preditors. I am not a furrier, just a concerned citizen and you are violating peoples american rights. Get a life and work on better monitoring of the farms if you are so concerned. You are simply a Sociopath and psychopath who needs medical care for your desease. You need to,set yourself free and stop endangering the animals that you have decided should run the streets.