B.C. mink farmer to destroy 1,000 animals

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s chief veterinarian says a mink farmer decided to euthanize the remaining 1,000 animals on his Fraser Valley operation after some of the mink tested positive for COVID19.

Dr. Rayna Gunvaldsen says the operator was not ordered by the provincial government to euthanize the animals as more tests are underway to determine the extent of the presence of COVID-19.

The first farm where the virus spread to mink also had eight workers who tested positive and Gunvaldsen said both farms remain under quarantine.

She says there are no other reports of COVID-19 at B.C.’s eight other mink farms.

Alan Herscovici, a spokesman for the Canada Mink Breeders Association, says imposing strict quarantine and biosecurity measures at mink farms for about two weeks appears to limit the spread of COVID-19 to other animals.

After COVID-19 was diagnosed on the first farm, the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals called for a moratorium on mink farming in the province.