#PASTBLAST "Fox Breeders Condemn Cruel ALF Attack on Illinois Farm"

Continuing on with our mini-series with articles from past actions in Illinois and other Midwestern states which involve animal rights and liberation issues . . . If you were not aware of the following taking place a decade ago, well, time to be enlightened!!

NORTH CENTRAL FOX PRODUCERS’ ASSOCIATION PRESS RELEASE, APRIL 2, 2005

Contact: Lou Baumel 218-245-2127

Bovey, Minnesota: Early in the morning of April 1, 2005, trespassers entered the Littig Fox Ranch in Bluffs, Illinois and opened 58 pens of foxes, all females nursing litters of young pups or about to deliver within the next 10 days.

An “anonymous communique” purporting to come from the Animal Liberation Front claimed guilt for this crime and threatened to attack the farm again.

Kerry Littig, owner of the farm explained, “Many of the nursing females stayed with their pups but others, frightened, abandoned their young and several aborted or delivered early. We’ve recovered them all and got them all back into their pens but one of the females has died from stress and we’re now hand-feeding her young. The rest, of course, are traumatized.”

Littig went on to explain that it is a challenge for the farmer to match up foxes with the correct pups. A mistake can result in death of all the pups.

While property damage to the farm is minor, the extent of the damage done to the livestock will not be known for several weeks.

“Right now it is all dependent on the skill of the farmer,” added Lou Baumel of the North Central Fox Producers’ Association, which represents fox farmers throughout the region. “Kerry Littig has earned a solid reputation for the quality of his foxes, raising award-winning animals for over 23 years so I am confident he’s doing his best.”

The communiquŽ from the Animal Liberation Front stated that the crime was done in “solidarity” for recently-captured fugitive Peter Young. Young, a fugitive for seven years, was arrested while shoplifting in California and is implicated in a multi-state crime spree relating to attacks on farms ten years ago.

“Farmers and researchers in the Midwest should double check their security and Neighborhood Watch programs and report suspicious activity to local law enforcement and the FBI,” recommended Lou Baumel.

(originally posted at Fur Commission USA, http://furcommission.com/fox-breeders-condemn-cruel-alf-attack-on-illinois-farm/)