John Gorham of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology
and Pathology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington
describes a condition that affects factory-farmed mink in the latest
issue of Fur Rancher. The condition, known as Nonspecific Enteritis
(inflammation of the intestinal tract, especially of the small
intestine) frequently affects mink. Its cause is unknown. The disease
appears whether conditions on the factory farm are neat and clean or
sloppy and unsanitary. In acute cases, the animals may be unable to eat,
have bloody diarrhea, and die within three to four days. In chronic
cases, the animal will not digest the food she has eaten and may not die
for a month. As a result, she will become badly emaciated before her
death. (Mink are semi-aquatic animals and are incapable of living a
healthy life in barren wire cages surrounded by thousands of their own
kind.
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