State police are investigating after a fur farm in Upper Augusta Township was broken into late Sunday.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is warning residents in Northumberland County after thousands of minks were released from a fur farm late Sunday.
According to Lt. Aaron Morrow, information and education supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. farm in Upper Augusta Township was broken into Sunday, resulting in the release of about 7,000 minks. State police said one or more people cut holes in the fence surrounding the farm.
The farm where the animals were released from was operating legally, according to Morrow.
The loose minks range in size from 12-20 inches, and are black, brown, or white in color.
Morrow said that while the minks pose no threat to the public, he stressed that anyone who crosses paths with one should not approach it, as animals bred in captivity can be unpredictable.
“Minks aren’t super dangerous or a threat to people, but these were from an enclosed facility,” Morrow said. “What we don’t want to see is somebody approach one, pick one up, and potentially get bit or scratched and have some sort of exchange of saliva, (creating) the potential of disease.”
Morrow also said pets should not be left outside unattended near where the minks got loose.
Anyone who comes across one of the escaped minks is asked to contact the Sunbury Animal Hospital, who are assisting in returning as many of the displaced minks as possible.
State police said they had opened a criminal mischief investigation and asked anyone with information to call investigators.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Patrick Berkery Pat Berkery is the senior community editor of The Keystone
