The Shawano County Sheriff's Office's inspection of Dillenberg Fur Farm in the town of Belle Plaine following an animal cruelty complaint filed by PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, found no violations that would lead to probable cause that any laws had been broken, according to a statement released Friday by the sheriff's office.
PETA says it went undercover for two months and captured video and pictures of workers cramming mink and foxes into a metal drum and using a combustion engine to euthanize them, which they say is a slow and painful death. They also claim employees mistreated the animals by using pressure washers and failed to treat their injuries.
The Sheriff's Office received PETA's complaint alleging animal abuse on Dec. 21, and a detective and deputy trained to investigate allegations of animal abuse accompanied a Wisconsin expert veterinarian on mink farms to meet with the farm's owner and inspect the business establishment on Jan. 4.
The Sheriff's Office investigation was also assisted by the Animal Health Section of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The Sheriff's Office has contacted PETA to request the remainder of the video and to meet with the individual who had taken the video. The investigation is inactive pending additional video or the witness providing supplemental information, according to the sheriff's office statement.
PETA Associate Director Dan Paden released the following statement Friday afternoon in response to the sheriff's office:
"With all due respect to the sheriff's department, how can the abuses documented in PETA's video of the Shawano County fur farm not be considered cruelty to animals? Nearly 40,000 people — and more every hour — have pledged never to buy fur clothing or trim after seeing this video. If law enforcement gives a pass to those who slowly gas to death as many as 30 minks at a time in a metal drum with carbon monoxide crudely pumped inside from a running engine, break the necks of survivors, and deny veterinary care to injured animals, people who are shocked by the abuses will be revolted by the failure of the authorities to stop them."
