Officials are investigating the minks’ release while trying to keep the rural county running smoothly as the ferret-like creatures run rampant. Although mink sightings are not uncommon in the area, Riggenbach said his office had gotten more calls than usual this week from residents trying to figure out how to handle a mink on their property or what to do with ones they’ve caught.

The creatures have also scrambled traffic, especially on U.S. Route 127, a highway less than a mile from Lion Farms USA. Law enforcement officers have been trying to get drivers off the road’s shoulder as they stop to take pictures of the barn or a loose mink, Riggenbach said. Matt Bruning, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation, said he was unaware of major traffic disruptions in the county.

The highway has also been the site of many minks’ demise. The number killed there, Riggenbach said, indicates that the animals have been on the move.

The exact number of animals that are unaccounted for is unclear. Lion Farms’s owner initially estimated that the count could reach up to 40,000, before revising his estimate to about 10,000, the sheriff’s office said. Many minks stayed on the property after the release.

Phone numbers associated with Lion Farms were disconnected Wednesday. Eddie Meyer, the manager, told Fort Wayne, Ind.-based television station WANE that the farm had been able to get back 7,000 minks so far.

In addition to being a nuisance, the missing creatures are also a potential danger to other animals in the largely agricultural county of about 29,000 people. Minks regularly hunt larger prey and have previously proved dangerous to poultry on the county’s farms, and to fish in ornamental home ponds, Riggenbach said. The fact that they’re probably hungry now that they’re off the farm could make them more dangerous.

“Obviously, the instincts to need to eat for survival are going to play a part in what they do,” Riggenbach said. “That’s one of the components that puts people’s animals, pets at risk as part of this.”

Woman’s 911 call over pink barbecue has experts defending smoked meat

Riggenbach urged residents not to approach the minks, which could bite. People can instead trap or hunt a mink that poses a threat on their own property or call licensed trappers publicized by the sheriff’s office.

No one has been charged in the incident, which the sheriff’s office is investigating as a break-in and instance of vandalism. A photo published by WANE showed “ALF” and “We’ll be back” spray-painted on the side of the barn. Riggenbach declined to confirm the graffiti.

The acronym “ALF” may be a reference to the Animal Liberation Front, an extremist animal rights movement whose members have removed animals from farms and laboratories for decades. The North American Animal Liberation Press Office, which distributes information about the ALF, said it had not been told of its members’ involvement but noted that the perpetrators left the movement’s insignia on the building. The organization also pointed to two other mink releases by its members this month in northeast Ohio and northern Michigan.

Activists have long criticized mink farms, which raise the animals for their fur. The facilities became a target of particular concern early in the coronavirus pandemic, when outbreaks occurred at several farms and may have facilitated viral spread to humans.

Whatever the perpetrators’ aims at Lion Farms, many minks are unlikely to survive their release. They lack survival skills, Riggenbach said, and many have already found themselves in harm’s way.

“There’s mink that have been killed just because of the traffic issues, not just on 127, but in other areas, as well,” he said. “To expect or believe that all the mink that were released are going to be able to be re-caught and that no mink were going to die as a result of this incident, that’s just not reality.”