Animal Rights Activists Plan Backfires

[MA-Caver]

Saw these two photos of where animal rights activists had freed over 50,000 minks from farms that were breeding them for the fur trade.
Setting the animals free to roam loose had many of them killed when they attempted to cross roads. Others would simply die from starvation or predation because they lack the skills necessary to survive out on their own.

Purty stoopid way to help stop the fur trade if you ask me.

1st photo: A mink is seen on the side of a road in Hiliodendro, near the northern Greek city of Kastoria, on Monday, Aug. 30. 2010. More than 50,000 minks were set loose in the area days before, after raids by suspected animal rights activists on two fur farms. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis) #

2nd photo:
A mink runs past other dead animals on a road in Hiliodendro, Greece on Monday, Aug. 30. 2010. More than 50,000 minks were set loose in the area days earlier, after raids by suspected animal rights activists. Greece's National Fur Breeders Association said most of the released animals were likely to die, adding that the cost to the farm owners could pass 1 million Euros ($1.27 million) despite an effort to recover the animals. (AP Photo/Nikolas Giakoumidis) #

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/09/animals_in_the_news_1.html#photo7

 

[Empty Hands]

It's not stupid at all from the point of view of the activists. If they act, maybe a few live. If they do not, they are all guaranteed to die. These animals are bred to die, they aren't pets. The activists also get to draw attention to their cause, and make life more difficult for farmers (ranchers? breeders?) that they despise.

Of course, it will never accomplish their goal. I'm not sure that the activists even really care about that though.

 

[Sukerkin]

Animal Rights Activists ...

... the rest of this post has been censored as it mostly just contained insults and expletives .

Let's just say that, for me, they redefine "Stupid" in a truly tangible way.

 

[cdunn]

"Freeing" domesticated animals.... rarely goes well for the animals.

Isn't it also interesting that when the animal rights folks start resorting to vigilante tactics / domestic terrorism, it's always for a 'cute' animal? You never hear about raids on the plants that freeze grasshoppers for your pet skink.

 

[Bruno@MT]

It's also interesting that they target people wearing mink, and not the hell's angles wearing leather.

 

[Tanaka]

A plan that was not well thought out. They didn't make it past the part of "We will set them free"

Just letting something go free doesn't always work when they have no leg to stand on.

 

[Omar B]

Seems animal activists never think beyond the first few steps. Now you have freed a bunch of domesticated animals outside the habitat they would have been had they been born free. Why not set them free at sea? Same deal right.

 

[Empty Hands]

Logically, it's pretty basic. If the activists do nothing, all of the animals will die. If they free them, most or even all may die, but they will have a chance. It's kind of silly to say that they shouldn't free them because the animals will die - they are all already destined to die. It's not like they raided a pet shop. From their point of view, they also get to strike directly at an industry they despise.

 

[Big Don]

Minks are weasels, if they weren't farmed for their skins, they'd be killed by farmers as varmints.

 

[Ken Morgan]

My understanding is most mink breed for their fur are American mink, so "freeing" American mink into a geographical area not meant to have them creates all sorts of problems for native species. The European Mink is already very rare in the world.
Ya gotta figure out of 50K, some will survive!

 

[Makalakumu]

It's also interesting that they target people wearing mink, and not the hell's angles wearing leather.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I never thought about it like that!

 

[MA-Caver]

Minks are weasels, if they weren't farmed for their skins, they'd be killed by farmers as varmints.

This is true but not on the wholesale numbers that are killed by the (mink) farmers. At best I would guess that a regular farmer or a chicken farmer would probably kill 50 to 100 each year with traps and poison bait.

But the farmer would have to live where Minks like to live as evident by this site

http://www.wildliferesponse.org/meet_your_neighbors.php#minkandweasel

Mink prefer a habitat beside streams and lakes. They are chiefly nocturnal and very secretive. They are rarely seen by humans and are solitary except for family groups of mothers and young. Mink are almost as dependent on access to water as the river otter. The mink will have a narrow territory not more than 150-300 feet from a lake , stream, marsh or river bank. A permanent water source, reliable amount of prey and adequate shoreline vegetation , such as cattails, are important to a mink’s choice of habitat.

And the Mink's diet and usefulness to the environment...

(same site)
Despite their size, mink are vicious predators. The mink is extremely aggressive and capable of attacking and killing animals much larger than itself. They are seldom if ever interested in plant food. They feed primarily on birds, eggs, frogs, crayfish, and fish. They seldom eat insects or carrion. The males, being larger in size, will also prey on rabbits, large birds, and muskrat. Prey are usually killed and taken to the den to eat. Mink perform a valuable service to man by controlling the small rodent population. It will cache food for later if the prey is larger than it can eat at one time.
Mink are preyed on by owls, fox, coyotes, bob cats and domestic dogs and cats. Other reasons for mortality include fighting with other mink, starvation of dispersing juveniles and trapping.
Mink are excellent environmental indicators. Wild mink are subject to a bio-accumulation of dangerous chemicals, such as mercury, because they are at the top of the aquatic food chain. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency found that the study of mink caught by trappers, was an important addition to water quality tests. The water samples did not always provide a complete picture of how compounds accumulate through the food chain or affect wildlife when they interact with each other in an animal’s body. Through this study, people were warned not to consume fish in certain areas due to the high levels of mercury found in the mink’s system. Mink are also susceptible to Aleutian mink disease virus, a form of the parvovirus.

So farmers killing these animals are wasting their time, I think... and if the (mink) farms are far from water then these animals are all going to die.
Sigh.