30,000 mink liberated from Russian fur farm, 3/9/06

On the night before September 3, animal rights defenders overthrew the fence of fur farm 'Pioneer' ('Severnaya Pushnina' holding, Luzhsky district, Leningradskaya region), opened the cages and released 30 thousand mink. The animals spread as far as 5 km away from the farm. Judging by the quantity of cages opened, no less than 10 people participated in the action. The public relations department of Severnaya Pushnina declared that they have reason to suspect activists of the Animal Liberation Front are responsible.

The damage to the farm is estimated at 10 million rubles (approx. $375,000 USD). Perhaps, the farm will not be able to rise up again after such a loss. The action is a serious strike against the whole Russian fur industry. Most of the released mink were of rare color types. The selection has been performed for three years and it cannot be restored.

The general director of Severnaya Pushnina, I.V. Parkalov said to the media: 'We hope this incident will not only be properly investigated, but also will pull more attention of administrative structures in Saint-Petersburg and the region towards the activity of such extremist nature-defending organizations'.