Britain's Mink Mayhem
Thousands of the furry little creatures are suddenly set free--and residents reach for their shotguns
By BARRY HILLENBRAND/RINGWOOD

By the time Dan Phillips reached the barn with his shotgun, the mink had already seized one of his prized silver-lace chickens in a death grip. Phillips maneuvered for a clear shot and dispatched the mink with a single blast. "He seemed liked a nice little fellow before I shot him," says Phillips in a kindly tone.

But this was no time for sentiment. A mink emergency was in effect in southern England after activists from the Animal Liberation Front released more than 2,000 mink from a fur farm in Ringwood, about 3 km from Phillips' house and just outside the leafy precincts of the New Forest, a splendid royal hunting ground founded in 1079 by William I. All last week the area buzzed with reports that hordes of mink were causing mayhem among birds and other wildlife of the New Forest and frightening the general populace. "Babies in prams should not be left alone," police warned.

From an "emergency control center" bunker in the New Forest District Council building, somber officials dispensed advice ("Do not approach the animal") and dispatched SWAT teams to citizens calling into the "mink hotline." Responding to a call for help, Bruce Berry stuffed a handful of shells into his pocket, grabbed his 14-gauge shotgun and--with a TV camera crew in tow--headed off to a backyard vegetable garden on Christchurch Road in eager, but ultimately futile, pursuit of a suspicious furry creature spotted by an elderly lady. Berry has special reason for urgency. He runs an owl sanctuary in the New Forest and rampaging mink have killed several of his birds. He trapped or shot more than 80 in the first week of the crisis. "Mink are just killing machines," he says. "Setting those mink free in an area like this was a hideous, horrendous mistake."

Few, aside from the Animal Liberation Front, would disagree. Robin Webb, spokesman for the A.L.F., stubbornly argues that releasing the mink from the confines of their cages was an act of nobility. He admits that many will die, but "Even those who were squashed by cars are better off because they have tasted one hour of glorious freedom."

Perhaps, but not all the animals the A.L.F. liberated heeded the call of the wild. Many declined the opportunity to flee, remaining within the sabotaged perimeter fence after their cages were opened. A good number of those that ventured outside the fence died violently by gun or car because they lacked the wit to shun humans--understandable, since in their limited experience people were providers of food. Still, those that survive last week's release will join an estimated 100,000 others, descendants of animals brought from North America in the 1920s which escaped or were released when, from time to time, the fur business temporarily went sour.

The introduction of such non-native species into the tranquil forests of Britain can disrupt the balance of nature. Mink, like fox, are hoarders that instinctively kill and stockpile every suitable prey they encounter. In Scotland, where mink were released in the 1950s, entire colonies of tern and duck have been wiped out. It is this sort of behavior that makes mink unpopular and gives them a dark reputation. High in the indictment of mink is the charge that they are responsible for the dramatic decline in the population of water voles, a furry little animal much beloved by the millions of children who dote on the antics of "Ratty" in Wind in the Willows.

But the anti-mink hysteria of last week was only a symptom of the real problem: the controversy over whether animals should be raised in cramped cages and then killed to produce fur to be worn as a fashion accessory. "This trade should be ended," says Tom Sheldon, who lives near the mink farm in Ringwood. "It is cruel and indefensible." Those who make their living from fur, naturally, disagree.

But fur farming is most likely doomed in Britain. The Labour government has pledged to ban it, although it may take years to pass the required legislation. In the meantime, responsible animal rights groups like Respect for Animals believe the best way to help save the mink is not by releasing the animals, but by gathering evidence of mismanagement and maltreatment of mink which might close down individual farms. The day before the mink were released, an employee of the farm in Ringwood pleaded guilty to six counts of "causing avoidable pain and suffering [to animals] at slaughter." But the owner of the farm, Terry Smith, pleaded not guilty to similar charges and last week was busy putting recovered mink back in their cages. In November when their coats have thickened, he will kill them with lethal gas and skin them. Mink, for all their formidable reputation for ferocity and wile, just can't win.END