Vicious attack - June 12 update

FUR COMMISSION USA PRESS RELEASE, JUNE 12, 2007

Update from the DeMatteis farm in Boyers, Marion Township, Pennsylvania

(See Vicious attack on fur farming family results in dogs killed, brutalized mink and kits, FCUSA press release, June 6, 2007.)

Robert DeMatteis (pronounced DeMatts) of Oakwood Mink Farm in Butler County, Pennsylvania, reported that he has succeeded in getting many of the female mink to accept the young kits which are not theirs after the mink were separated from their litters last week by vandals. "The mothers are taking care of them," reports Mr. DeMatteis stating that he’d only had to resettle about 10 litters on Sunday. He continues to watch the litters carefully for any signs of rejection by the mother mink.

As of Thursday night, the total mink lost stood at 443: 340 mink kits weighing less than 1 pound each and 3 to 6 weeks from being weaned from their mothers and 103 nursing females. With so much work to be done, there has been no time to take a formal count of how many mink have survived the attack on the farm.

About 100 to 150 of the mink lost so far had been trampled to death, most of those young kits. The bulk of the adult mink were lost due to shock and the balance of the young simply starved to death before the farmer could match them up with a female kit willing to nurse them. Two adult mink were killed on the road.

Beyond the trauma and financial loss to the farming family and the cruel deaths experienced by the mink, two family dogs were killed during the attack by a sharp instrument. One of the dogs was almost decapitated, reported Ray Morrow of the Pittsburgh office of the FBI.

The two dogs were family pets: a male 19-year-old sheepdog named Sy (30-40 pounds) and a 2-year-old sheepdog/beagle mix named Sandy (20 pounds). Along with being companions for the three DeMatteis children, all under the age of 8, the dogs were prized by the farming family for their gentle herding instincts.

The investigation into who committed this crime of cruelty and their motive continues. The Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a loosely organized group recognized by the FBI as a domestic terrorist group, is at the top of the suspect list. Spokespeople for ALF attempted to distance ALF from this act since two dogs were killed. In direct conflict to evidence over decades, statements to the press declared that the crime was too cruel to be an ALF crime.

"Crimes of this nature are unfathomable," says Patti Strand of the National Animal Interest Alliance. "When we see the bodies of hundreds of dead mink following a break in, we want to believe that the crime was committed by misguided youth, delinquents who truly believed that the mink would find refuge, that it was not an act of wanton cruelty. But when family dogs are viciously killed in the process of such a raid, we know that what we’re seeing is not only deliberate and criminal, but depraved and sick. Sadly, after decades of observing such crimes, I have no doubt that animal liberationists are capable of such cruelty."

Beyond the mink that have died cruel deaths in the last few days in Pennsylvania, more than 100,000 mink that have been attacked on U.S. mink farms since 1995 - about half of those, approximately 50,000 mink, died miserable and slow deaths within days of the attacks. Additionally, farm dogs have been reported poisoned by ALF-claimed crimes. Virtually all those attacks were claimed by the Animal Liberation Front or its sister group, the Earth Liberation Front. These tallies don’t include the other animals that have died cruel deaths as a direct result of ALF/ELF attacks on farms, zoos, aquariums, research facilities, etc.

Any one with information should contact the Pittsburgh FBI at 412-432-4000.

The mink farmers’ trade association, Fur Commission USA, is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to convictions.

For those who want to help the family recover from this crime and to rebuild their farm over the next few years, Fur Commission USA is ready to accept donations earmarked for the "DeMatteis Family Fund." See our Donations page for more info.

Media coverage (sample):

Attack on local mink farm leaves hundreds dead. Owners' dogs also killed. Wpxi.com, June 7, 2007.

Mink crop value surges on record pelt prices. FCUSA analysis of latest USDA statistics on mink farming, Aug. 20, 2006.

FCUSA Press Kit special feature: Safe Farms Campaign

Pennsylvania Toughens Eco-Terror Law: Legislators, governor united to safeguard people and property. By James Taylor, Environment News, July 1, 2006, published by the Heartland Institute.

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) 272-2467/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

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