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The coronavirus mutation discovered in Denmark’s mink could spark a new wave of the illness in the country, scientists warn. Authorities in Denmark — the world’s largest producer of mink furs — said five cases of the new virus strain had been recorded on mink farms and 12 cases in humans. The mutation showed a decreased sensitivity against antibodies, meaning it could potentially cause a COVID-19 vaccine to be less effective, experts said....

The minks were culled after 11 people were sickened in mink farms and factories. Minks infected with a mutated strain of the novel coronavirus appeared to rise from the grave this week after thousands were culled in Denmark earlier in the month. The decision to kill the animals was made following the discovery that 11 people had been sickened by the same strain found in mink farms and factories. However, in the haste to dispose of the bodies, Danish authorities reported Thursday that some of the carcasses had risen to the surface of their makeshift graves after gases built up...

Officials say a wild mink in Utah tested positive for the coronavirus. Story at a glance The USDA has been carrying out screenings of species around mink farms in Utah, Michigan and Wisconsin for several months over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic to determine if the virus has spread to nearby wildlife. A mink found in the immediate vicinity of one of the affected farms is the only wild animal caught in the area to test positive. “To our knowledge, this is the 1st free-ranging, native wild animal confirmed with SARS-CoV-2,” USDA officials wrote. The first known case of...

The minks were culled after 11 people were sickened in mink farms and factories Minks infected with a mutated strain of the novel coronavirus appeared to rise from the grave this week after thousands were culled in Denmark earlier in the month. The decision to kill the animals was made following the discovery that 11 people had been sickened by the same strain found in mink farms and factories. However, in the haste to dispose of the bodies, Danish authorities reported Thursday that some of the carcasses had risen to the surface of their makeshift graves after gases built up...

Nearly 10,000 minks have died across several farms in Utah due to COVID-19 in a matter of weeks, a state official said. State veterinarian Dean Taylor told NBC News that the deaths have been spread across nine mink farms in Utah over just two weeks. While the official noted “research indicates there hasn’t been a spread from minks to humans,” he said that the minks suffered from respiratory issues, which have also been reported among humans. “Minks show open mouth breathing, discharge from their eyes and nose, and are not sick for several days before they pass away. They typically...

Between 30,000 and 40,000 farm-raised minks were released into the wild near Eden Valley, Minnesota, earlier this week when burglars—presumably animal rights activists—cut the fence to a mink-pelt farm and opened the cages holding the mammals, letting them run into the wild. Minks are strange little creatures somewhere between otters and ferrets, and when they run, their front halves and back halves teeter independently like two people pretending to be one horse. While the idea of tens of thousands of minks flopping through a pasture is quite amusing, the minks’ liberation likely came at a price: Farm-raised minks aren’t really...

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has arrested two animal-rights activists after they spent half a year driving 40,000 miles around the U.S., raiding fur farms, and releasing about 5,740 mink into the wild. According to the Associated Press, in addition to freeing the mink (and one bobcat), Joseph Buddenberg, 31, and Nicole Kissane, 28, allegedly slashed tires, smashed windows, glued door locks, vandalized businesses using caustic acid, and even tried to flood a fur industry employee’s home.

<p>BERLIN (Reuters) - Twenty German soldiers were deployed on Friday to help recapture around 17,000 minks on the run.</p> <p>The animals had been let out from a mink farm into the eastern German countryside by unknown perpetrators, according to police in Stendal, 55 miles west of Berlin.</p>

BERLIN (AFP) - German conservationists on Monday condemned the freeing of some 17,000 minks from a fur farm, apparently by animal rights activists, saying they would starve in the wild. "It was a political act, and it has nothing to do with protecting the environment," said Joern Ehlers from the German chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). "These animals are going to die of hunger." Minks are carnivores who feed on small animals and those freed from the farm in Grabow, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Berlin, risked disturbing the ecological balance in the region,...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- Thousands of minks escaped from a fur farm in western Denmark — possibly set free by animal rights activists, police said Monday. Authorities and residents were chasing down about 5,000 minks from the farm near Asp, 200 miles northwest of Copenhagen, police said. Investigators believe animal rights activists raided the farm overnight to set them free . . .

January 13, 2006 Undercover I received a call from my good friend and PETA activist, Scooter. He asked me if I would help him liberate some minks from a breeding facility in the Midwest. As I'm sure you know, they make these poor little animals into clothing for rich Republicans (I've heard Dick Cheney's wife even wears mink underwear). I didn't hesitate to say yes. Scooter and I met up in a small town close to our target and discussed the operation over dinner. Our plan was not only to free the oppressed animals, but also to do as much...

Minks Released by Activists Raise a Stink Near Seattle SULTAN, Wash. -- He has killed 20 of them with a shotgun. Still, flesh-eating fugitives are skulking around Jeffrey Weaver's place here in the deep green foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The escapees stink to high heaven, but that is the least of Weaver's complaints. They have slaughtered dozens of his ducks and chickens, feasted on fingerling salmon in his creek and had the temerity to bite his dog in the throat. One of them leaped out of the shadows and scratched his arm. "For the size of the animal, I...

SULTAN, Wash. -- An animal rights group's plan to free 10,000 mink from a farm turned deadly after many of the emancipated mustelids became cannibals while others went on a carnivorous feeding frenzy. About 9,000 of the freed mink have been returned to Roesler Brothers Fur Farm since the Aug. 25 break-in, but keeping them alive has been a challenge. Normally, only siblings are caged together, but workers cannot readily determine which of the recaptured mink are related, said Kate Roesler. ``The mink are fine when they're litter mates together, but when they're not they're quite vicious and they're cannibals,''...

Some 7,000 mink were released Sunday night from a fur farm in northwest Finland, with no group yet claiming responsibility, officials said Monday. Police said they had no suspects in what fur farmers have called the biggest attack on a Finnish mink farm. Some two thirds of the mink released near the town of Kokkola, around 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of capital Helsinki, remained free by noon Monday. Local residents were joining the hunt to try to catch them. Leif Finne, head of the fur farming organization in the region, told Reuters over telephone from Kokkola that the attack...

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- Unidentifed intruders released more than 7,000 minks from their cages in the middle of the night, the biggest raid on a mink farm in Finland, farmers and officials said Monday. Police were alerted to the minks around 3 a.m. by a passer-by, Detective Chief Inspector Erkki Kerola said. "We got a call from a person who said the area was swarming with minks," he told The Associated Press. "Local inhabitants, the fire brigade and others are helping catch them." No one claimed responsibility for freeing the animals, which are used to make fur coats, Kerola said,...

<p>SULTAN, Wash. (AP) - Days after 10,000 mink were released from a farm in southern Snohomish County, hundreds of the animals not yet captured have converged on local farms in search of food.</p> <p>The animals had killed at least 25 exotic birds and attacked other livestock in the area.</p>

Days after 10,000 mink were released from a farm in southern Snohomish County, hundreds of the animals not yet captured have converged on local farms in search of food. The animals had killed at least 25 exotic birds and attacked other livestock in the area. "Over half our livestock was shredded. Murdered. Eaten alive," said Jeff Weaver, who discovered the dead birds on his farm Thursday. "These are not like regular farm animals. They're our pets." Weaver, who breeds Indian Runner ducks and Banny chickens, said his field was full of the animals Thursday morning. "One of the mink had...

<p>SULTAN, Wash. -- Hundreds of minks set free in Washington state by animal rights activists are devouring farm animals and exotic birds in the area.</p> <p>One farmer who breeds rare ducks and chickens says over half of them were eaten alive by the minks.</p>

SULTAN, Wash. (AP) - Snohomish County mink farmers, who produce almost half the mink raised in Washington, worry there will be more ecoterrorism attacks like Monday's release of about 10,000 animals from a family farm here. ``These farmers are on pins and needles,'' said Teresa Platt, executive director of the industry group Fur Commission USA. ``People should be on alert because the pattern with these groups is to hit again and in a short period of time.'' The FBI, which is leading the investigation, suspects an out-of-state group is responsible for the mink release at the Roesler Brothers Fur Farm...