Missing chain link raising ire

Patsy Humby wants answers.

Last Saturday she counted 13 dead mink on Birchy Chute on Route 230 east of Lethbridge.

Her own housecat has been attacked twice. She insists the attackers were farmed mink, from nearby Bonavista Fur Farm.

"We've got an epidemic on our hands right now. It's time for those responsible to take responsibility," she charges.

When the Bonavista Fur Farm proposed to set up shop in Lethbridge two years ago, area residents signed a petition against the farm. They worried about smells and escaped mink. At a public meeting organized by MHA Roger Fitzgerald in July 2006, they were assured state-of-the art fences and strict conditions on manure disposal.

According to registration documents under the environmental assessment process, the company promised a perimeter fence on 15 acres. The chain link would be four to five feet high, and extend six to eight inches underground,

Humby says somebody dropped the ball.

"I want answers from government," she says. "How did they get the mink in the farm before it was completed?"

Fitzgerald doesn't whether or not the fence was to be built before the mink arrived - he is not privy to contracts and permit agreements - but he acknowledges a fence is in order.

"It was clearly stated at that meeting that the perimeter of the farm would be fenced," he says.

The Department of Environment and Conservation is responsible for making sure permits and licences are adhered to. The minister, Charlene Johnson, is on vacation until August 11. Tina Coffey, a spokesperson with the department, says no one else is able to speak on the matter until then.

Fitzgerald told The Packet he understood the fence was to be built this past spring.

"I know they've made an effort to start it, but it's not fenced. We're in the middle of summer now and the fence is still not up.

"My understanding, in talking with the Department of Environment and Conservation, is that this farm is going to have to live up to the clauses in the permits and licences that they were granted, and part of that is to erect the fence."

Who is responsible?

But the question remains, just whose mink are harassing house pets?

For Humby's part, she wants a fence around the farm and tags in the ears of every farm mink, just so there's no question of who owns the animals if they are on the loose.

"If a mink gets in my yard, that owner should be responsible for my vet bills," she says.

But Fitzgerald says tagging the animals won't solve the problem.

"Whether it's a farm mink or whether it's a wild mink, you've got a problem and you've got to fix it."

As for the mink wandering in the area, he says, "Whether the mink are farmed mink or wild mink I don't know, and I really don't have a great interest in it. But I do have an interest to see that if there's promises made on the mink farm there, and the promise was that it would be fenced, then we should make sure that happens."

Running wild

About 7,000 mink escaped from a mink farm in Harcourt last year. Though many were recovered, RCMP are still following a criminal investigation into the matter.

An intentional release aside, Fitzgerald says escaped mink are part of the business.

"No matter what you hold in captivity - if you farm fish or if you farm mink or if you farm sheep - if you have them in captivity, there are going to be escapes," says Fitzgerald.

But that doesn't sit well with Humby,

"My animals are fenced - why can't other people keep their animals in?" she asks.

Fitzgerald points out that wild mink have been in the area for a long time, but people's perceptions have changed.

"Now when people see mink they automatically associate it with the mink farm because there's a mink farm in the area," he says.

The Packet was unable to contact the farm for comment.

lbutton@thepacket.ca