EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — The Fur Commission USA is offering a $16,000 reward to help find the suspect responsible for releasing 6,000-8,000 mink in central PA.
In response to the recent attack on a mink farm in Sunbury, the Fur Commission USA, in partnership with industry allies, announced a significant increase in the reward for information leading to the arrest of the “radical animal activists” responsible, the groups wrote in a statement.
The reward, which was originally set at $5,000, has now gone up to $16,000. The farm owners, Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc., are adding a $5,000 reward, complemented by a $1,000 reward previously made by The Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania.
On September 18, 6,000-8,000 mink got out of Richard H. Stahl Sons Incorporated located on State Route 890 in Rockefeller Township. State police say the suspect, or suspects, cut holes in the fence surrounding the mink farm and released approximately thousands of them from their pens.
Several mink were seen dead along the roadway near the fur farm, presumably hit by passing vehicles. The Fur Commission stated that farmed mink have been raised in captivity for more than 100 generations and, like other farm animals, they are not prepared to survive in the wild.
Anyone with information is urged to contact authorities.
