Minnesota Fur Farm Burns to the Ground
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

From Animal Liberation Frontline
October 2013

Days after activists released 450 mink from a fur farm across the state, the main building at a large Minnesota fur farm has gone up in flames. The daytime fire is being called “accidental,” and early speculation is that it may have been caused by a spark from an incinerator.

fur farm burns

With 50,000 mink, the Sonnenberg Mink Farm is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, mink farms in the state. Detroit Lakes is home to at least five mink farms, with the empty remains of several closed farms also scattered across town.

The building destroyed was said to house all mink feed and equipment used on the farm.

Three fur industry targets suffer recent accidental fires

The fur industry has seen a suspicious number of accidental fires in the past two years. In December 2011, what may be the largest fur farm feed supplier in the country went up in flames. The Utah Fur Breeder’s Agricultural Cooperative’s main plant caught fire from a welder’s torch, and was a total loss.

And in May 2012, an empty mink shed at Lion Farms in Nottingham, Indiana was destroyed by a fire that was called accidental.

What remains of the main building at the Sonnenberg Mink Farm will have to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch.


Return to Animal Rights Articles