I thought he just ate cats.
Posted on 06/08/2007 8:25:41 AM PDT by grundle
Mr. DeMatteis, 48, was staring in horror at the aftermath of an overnight rampage: smashed and toppled cages, carcasses of trampled minks and the bloody bodies of his children's two pet dogs.
"Whoever broke in brutally injured or killed baby minks, nursing mothers, and totally tore the whole ranch apart."
Intruders set loose nearly 2,800 minks, resulting in the deaths of at least 443 animals. They also nearly severed the heads of the family's 19-year-old sheepdog, named Sy, and 2-year-old sheepdog-beagle mix, named Sandy, by shooting or bludgeoning them with something sharp.
Many minks were run over after slipping under a fence and scampering to a nearby road. Others appeared to have been stomped to death near their pens, she said. The dead animals included 340 kits, or baby minks, that weighed less than a pound and were still nursing and helpless.
The intruders wiped out the business started in 1936 by her husband's father and uncle and operated for the past 32 years by her husband. They managed to round up many surviving animals.
But they can no longer breed those minks for sale because they cannot match the animals with pedigree-history information that was posted on pens.
"Our life is done. Our business is done. Our lives are ruined," she said. "Every mink that didn't get killed, we lost its bloodlines. And if mothers don't accept [surviving] babies, they'll starve to death."
Her two daughters and her son, ages 8, 7 and 4, are inconsolable over losing beloved dogs. The minks were not insured because "nobody would give us insurance with these animal rights groups."
"We can't imagine who would do this to us," she said, breaking down again. "This was my husband's livelihood. This was our life. But I don't know if I can do it anymore."
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
PETA?
Find the parents of the ecofreaks that did this and take everything they have and will ever have in court.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Sounds like A.L.F. to me. Despicable.
This makes me sick and very angry. What is wrong with people these days?
ALF
I thought he just ate cats.
Rather obvious, one would think. Or I should say IF one would think.
eco/enviro-terrorism?
Anyone who slaughters animals like this is NOT their friend. It was just an excuse to go on a killing spree. This psycho may graduate to people next time.
ALF/ELF/Peta was my first thought too.
Ah, the animal rights freaks love animals so much, they’ll slaughter them to keep them from being oppressed and exploited. Now, if this family had a few Australian cattle dogs or the like, I have a feeling we would have read a totally different story. More like, “The carcasses of two teenaged ALF members were found...”
Given the nature of the business and the threat from wackos that they must have been aware of, I wish they had security measures up to the task. Catching and punishing those involved won’t undo the harm.
The authorities should have a look at check-in/check-out logs at local college dormitories.
You might think so, but these eco-freaks and animal-liberation freaks are so skilled at double-think that they can kill minks and even family pets in the name of protecting animals. You just have to take the long view, ya know? I wouldn’t put anything past freaks like those in ALF.
Over 400 consecutive sentences for animal cruelty would keep the perps busy for a while.
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