Twenty Domesticated Foxes Missing in Minnesota; Farmer Concerned About Their Welfare

Chandler, Minnesota: The same terrorist group which admitted guilt for an April 5 attack on the University of Minnesota, causing damage estimated at $2 million, has struck again, this time targeting a fur-farming family.

At 2:30 a.m. on September 12, over 100 domesticated foxes were released from the farm of Calvin Gunnink, in Chandler, Minnesota. Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) in an announcement circulated by the North American ALF Press Office.

Fortunately, the majority of the foxes are now safely back in their pens thanks to the efforts of Gunnink's friends from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "We spent most of Monday rounding them up and bringing them home," said Gunnink, whose family has been rearing animals for 21 years. "By late afternoon, they'd been fed and watered, and we hope they are all right."

But as of September 15, some 20 foxes were still missing and concern for their welfare was growing. "If we don't find them soon, they might not survive much longer," said Gunnink. "If the predators don't get them, they'll either end up as roadkill or show up at neighbors' farms looking for food, since they're not afraid of humans like wild animals, and be killed by the farm dogs. These are domesticated animals and they are not equipped to survive in the wild."

"By now, these animals will be desperately in need of food, water and the farmer's care," said Teresa Platt, Executive Director of Fur Commission USA (FCUSA), which represents over 600 fur-farming families in 31 states. "For the animals' sake, anyone finding a lost fox should contact us immediately."

Local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating the attack, which has come hard on the heels of a local outpouring of anger at the wave of terrorism being directed at American farmers. On August 26, over 250 farmers held a Safe Farm Support Rally in Plymouth, Wisconsin, a town of 7,000 that was recently hit with two attacks on fur farms and saw a $1.5 million feed mill burned to the ground. Responsibility for all three attacks was claimed by ALF, and the Sheboygan County Conservation Association and the Farm Bureau have each offered rewards of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the culprits.

Media Attention

With the local media showing interest in the raid, Gunnink hopes they will take an unemotional look at the paradoxes presented by so-called "animal liberationists".

Said Gunnink, "These animal rightists, who claim to speak for animals, say it is better for farm animals to be abandoned in the wild, where they will at least 'have a chance' at life. But the reality is different. As long as they are on farms, their health and nutritional needs are all catered for - privileges many humans don't have - and when their time comes, their deaths will be quick and humane. But in the wild, they cannot fend for themselves, and their lives will be perilous, stressful and short.

"If people want to give charity money to groups which abandon helpless animals in the wild, that's up to them. But personally, I'd prefer to see their dollars being spent on worthwhile causes, like hunger programs for people in developing countries.

"As for the raid on our farm, the media will have to decide for themselves who they want to glorify. They can glorify the cowards who sneaked up in the dead of night to terrorize my family and livestock. Or they can glorify our two teenage girls and six-year-old son who love and care for our animals, and who left their beds at 3:30 in the morning to spend hours in the cold rain searching for them."

For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.

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