Thousands of minks escaped from the Richard Stahl Fur Farm along Route 890
SUNBURY — A $1,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest of individuals involved in the releasing of minks from a fur farm just outside of Sunbury.
The Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania is offering the $1,000 reward after state police reported last month that several thousand minks were set free after someone cut a fence at the Richard Stahl Fur Farm on route 890, just outside of Sunbury.
Owner Mark Stahl previously said the number was more likely to be several hundred, and the farm is still recovering and working with investigators. Stahl said the initial report of 6,000 to 8,000 minks being released was accurate, but that was the number of the animals that were released from cages at the farm not that had escaped into the wild population.
“This reward is to show support to the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission to bring the guilty person or persons to justice,” said Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania Vice President Pete Kingsley. Kingsley, of Lancaster County, said the group wants justice.
“We want to try and get the culprit,” he said. “We are doing what we can to help.”
State police reported that on Sept. 17 they were notified someone had broken into the farm and released the animals. Three days later, Joseph Buddenberg, press officer with the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, said he believed the farm was targeted.
According to the website, animalliberationpressoffice.org, an anonymous letter was posted to the site claiming responsibility for the alleged attack. Buddenberg said he did not know who posted the message, but said he believed the alleged attack was planned.
A video, which is on the site and YouTube, also allegedly shows a 25-second clip of a person walking through the mink farm. Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz said state police are still probing the incident.