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(See also: The FBI is on the watch for special-interest terrorists committing crimes in the United States, Fox News report, Dec. 03, 2002.)
ALF/ELF Claim Guilt for PA Mink Farm Arson
Anyone with information on the following crime should contact Drew Ptasiemski, FBI, on (814) 452-4516
TWO ORGANIZATIONS LISTED AS DOMESTIC TERRORIST GROUPS BY THE FBI have claimed guilt for a Nov. 26 fire at a Pennsylvania mink farm in which a barn was destroyed.
In a communique distributed Dec. 3, 2002 by the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office, unknown persons claiming affiliation with the FBI-designated domestic terrorist groups, the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front, vowed to "demolish" the rest of the farm. Ironically, the press release arrived just as the rest of Pennsylvania was donning fur coats for the coldest day of the year to date (temperatures hovered about 11 degrees).
In June 2002, a fox farm came under attack in Erie, Pennsylvania. Guilt was claimed jointly by ALF and ELF.
The pens of 16 foxes were opened. Six animals stayed in their pens, but 10 left the farm. Five of those were quickly killed by cars. Another was shot by a game warden.
Four were never recovered, but given the fate of the others, they are presumed dead.
"Whoever commited this cowardly crime must be punished to the full extent of the law," said Forrest Mindek, who runs the farm with his two brothers. "It's bad enough that they try to destroy our livelihood, but they put the lives of our animals, our family and the firefighters at risk."
The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had launched an investigation as soon as the fire was reported.
This will be the second terrorist attack on the Mindeks this year. In May, the pens of 200 female mink with kits were opened, leaving about 1,000 kits without mothers.
In August, people acting in the name of another terrorist group affiliated with ALF, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), claimed guilt for cutting fences at an Iowa mink farm, then releasing and abandoning more than 1,000 mink.
ELF has also claimed guilt for two other recent fires in western Pennsylvania. One of those fires destroyed an unoccupied Northeast Research Station run by the U.S. Forest Service in the Allegheny National Forest in August, causing about $700,000 in damages.
"On behalf of the Mindeks and every other American farmer, I would like to express heartfelt thanks to the authorities for their quick response and considerable resources deployed to investigate this serious crime," said Teresa Platt, executive director of Fur Commission USA.
Resources:
Anti-Terrorism Act Boosts Penalties for Animal Rights Violence FCUSA press release, June 12, 2002.
FBI Testifies to House Eco-terror Hearing Federal Bureau of Investigation statement, Feb. 12, 2002.
FCUSA Press Kit Special Feature: Safe Farms Campaign
FCUSA chronology of animal extremist / eco-terrorist crimes
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.
To take a cyber-tour of a fur farm, visit Fur Commission USA's Fur on Film at http://www.furcommission.com/video/index.htm