Roaming the streets of Pennsylvania are not ferrets, but minks! Mink are long and fluffy animals with a bushy tail which are commonly mistaken for a ferret.

According to a state police report, animal activists from the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) cut multiple holes in a fur farms’ fence over the weekend between midnight and 6:50 am on Sept. 17. From 6,000 to 8,000 mink run free through the town, sourced from Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. fur farm in Rockefeller Township.

A mink fur farm packs the mink into confined cages which make the mink unable to make many movements. After they are born they are kept for a few months then killed and they take their fur.

This was definitely not the first time the ALF has freed the mink, with occurrences like this happening in various places throughout the US. Less than a year ago, 3,000 mink were released from a farm in Wisconsin; approximately a year ago, 25,000 to 40,000 mink were set free from a fur farm in Ohio. The ALF have released the mink because they believe the mink would have a better chance of survival roaming free rather than being killed at a farm.

The mink are kept in lines of cages close together, with holes in the bottoms so their waste can drop below. The mink are born each winter and are killed each fall, where the average mink is supposed to live three to four years.

Though the ALF see this as cruel, experts say the captured mink are not set up to be in the wild as they are not native to Penyslivana and are not developed to live in the wild.
The people of Pennsylvania are mistaking these mink for ferrets and picking them up, thinking the cuddly-looking creatures are friendly. Locals are encouraged not to bring the animals home, as unlike ferrets, mink can be quite ferocious. The mink is seen to attack any other animal that comes near them, using their teeth to bite anyone and anything in their way.

The ALF made it clear this won’t be the last time this happens. After the event in Ohio written in spray paint was “ALF” and “We’ll be back.”