Mink breeders offer $100K for capture of 'extremists'
Activists suspected of releasing 8400 mink from two St. Marys farms
"We know there is a small segment of extremists who want to put us out of business, but, honestly, how could anyone be so ignorant or heartless as to release two-month old animals," wrote association president Kirk Rankin in a news release Tuesday.
The new sum ups the ante from the previous $75,000 reward offered by the Canada Mink Breeders on May 31, after someone cut a hole through the chain link fence that surrounds Glenwood Fur Farms, just east of St. Marys, Ont., and released 1600 mink from their cages.
The break-in was followed by a similar incident last week, where some time between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 1 a.m. Wednesday, 6,800 young mink were released from RBR Fur Farms Inc., owned by Rankin.
"If you don't want to wear fur, that's fine, don't buy it, but that doesn't give you the right to dictate how everyone else should live; it doesn't give you the right to break into people's homes," he said.
Ontario Provincial Police are investigating both break-ins.