SULTAN, Wash. (AP) _ Snohomish County mink farmers, who produce almost half the mink raised in Washington, worry there will be more ecoterrorism attacks like Monday’s release of about 10,000 animals from a family farm here. “These farmers are on pins and needles,’' said Teresa Platt, executive director of the industry group Fur Commission USA. “People should be on alert because the pattern with these groups is to hit again and in a short period of time.’'
The FBI, which is leading the investigation, suspects an out-of-state group is responsible for the mink release at the Roesler Brothers Fur Farm off U.S. Highway 2. The American Liberation Front, considered a domestic terrorist group by the FBI, claimed responsibility for the release in an e-mail sent to local media.
FBI and Sultan police officials said that they had not yet received that notification, but suspect an animal-rights group orchestrated the event. The Animal Enterprise Protection Statute, passed in the 1990s, makes it illegal for people to travel or communicate interstate for the purpose of disrupting an animal enterprise, FBI spokeswoman Roberta Burroughs said.
A reward of $100,000 has been posted by the fur commission for information leading to the arrests and convictions of those responsible. About four farms in Snohomish County produced 56,000 pelts in 2001, according to the latest Agriculture Department data. Washington is home to 15 mink farms and had a production of more than 113,000 pelts in 2001. At $40 a pelt, the industry is worth about $4.5 million to the state, which is one of the nation’s top 10 producers.
There were few leads and no witnesses to Monday’s release, Sultan Police Chief Fred Walser said. All but about 1,000 were believed to have been recaptured Monday, and most were back in their cages Tuesday with help from dozens of volunteers.
“We are very, very thankful for their support,’' said Brad Roesler, the farm’s co-owner.
Dead mink could be seen Tuesday along Highway 2 and near the farm entrance, and Roesler farm employees estimated about 200 had been killed by cars or dogs, or died of dehydration. Roesler told The Herald of Everett he is not sure how costly the damage of the break-in will be, but noted he plans to install an electronic security system. The fur commission estimated the damage at $500,000, based on the cost of similar incidents at other farms. The commission said that would include the lost pelts, damaged pelts from stressed animals and lost production from breeding minks that had been in separate pens.
ALF has struck mink farms and related businesses in the area before. Nationwide, the group has conducted more than 600 attacks since 1996, according to the FBI.