At least a couple of hundred mink escaped from a mink farm in West Abbotsford on Wednesday.
The owner of the farm, who wishes to remain anonymous, is alerting local residents, businesses, and motorists to the incident as a public service.
The owner discovered the missing mink this morning at 10 a.m. upon inspecting the pens at his farm in the Lefeuvre Road and Downes Road area. The incident likely occurred earlier on Wednesday.
He was able to account for the majority of the 2,000 mink on the farm, but at least a couple of hundred remain unaccounted for.
The owner is concerned that the mink may target the poultry farms in the area. Mink are carnivores and prey on small mammals and birds.
The Abbotsford police department is speaking with the owner to determine how the mink escaped. Const. Ian MacDonald confirmed that the incident will likely not be treated as a criminal matter.
The farmer is currently searching for the mink.
"The farmer and some of his colleagues were running around pretty frantically getting as many as they could corralled. I would anticipate that that's probably going to continue through the day," said MacDonald.
To report found mink, residents are asked to send a text message to 222973 (Abbotsford Police Dept.). This prevents clogging the police phone line.
The farm is one of several mink farms in Abbotsford. According to a 2004 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries document, all 15 of B.C.'s mink farms are in the Fraser Valley. Together, they produce 250,000 mink pelts per year.