December 14, 2007

BELOIT, Wis. - A mink farm targeted by animal rights activists in 1998 has closed after 70 years in business.

About 2,100 mink were harvested for their fur on Brown's Mink Ranch this week, and another 1,800 were sold for breeding stock. The farm closed Tuesday.
...
In 1998, animal rights activists released nearly 3,000 mink, resulting in the loss of 700 of the animals, most killed on the highway, Gary Brown said.

"The ones who came back were sick and dehydrated," he said. "I don't know how you call that freedom. We got phone calls for three weeks from people who were finding our mink."

Similar incidents occurred at mink ranches near Middleton and Kimball, Minn., around the same time.

In 2006, Wisconsin led the nation in mink production, with 68 farms, according the National Agriculture Statistics Service.

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full story:
http://www.chron. com/disp/ story.mpl/ ap/fn/5376200. html