Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
An investigation into charges of animal cruelty at a Belle Plaine fur farm has been put on hold until Shawano County authorities get more information from the group making the allegations.
The sheriff’s department began an investigation last month into alleged animal abuse at Dillenburg Fur Farm, N2544 Hickory Lane, after receiving a video from the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals alleging that animals were being euthanized in a gas chamber and were also not receiving needed medical attention.
However, according to the sheriff’s department investigation report obtained by the Leader, the four-minute video showed signs of having been edited, with scenes cutting back and forth “quickly and often.”
According to the report, investigators requested that PETA provide the full and unedited video, as well as the name of the person who made the video so he could be interviewed.
After contacting PETA with that request, “it was decided that I would receive the video and person’s information if it was decided this was (an) actionable offense,” the detective wrote in his report.
The sheriff’s department put out a statement Friday saying it was suspending the investigation until PETA provides the requested video and contact information.
“Officials are eager for the reporting party to come forward with any additional information, provide a copy of the full video, and make the witness available to provide this office with any supplemental information that may provide additional insight in the violations that were alleged to have occurred,” the sheriff’s department said.
Dan Paden, associate director of evidence analysis for PETA, on Friday denied that the sheriff’s department requested the full video or the name of the person who took it while working undercover at the Dillenburg farm.
“They did not request either,” he said.
According to PETA, the video shows workers grabbing the tails of “terrified, screaming minks” and stuffing as many as 30 of them at a time into a metal drum where they were gassed to death.
The group states one mink survived the gassing and had its neck broken by the farmer, while another survived the gassing for more than 20 minutes before dying.
PETA also claims that “approximately 2,500 minks and 100 foxes were kept in rows of filthy, wire-floored cages above foot-high piles of their own waste until they were slaughtered.”
The video was shot by a PETA operative working as a part-time employee at the Dillenburg farm from late September to mid December. The undercover employee had no specific job title, Paden said, but his duties included feeding the animals, ensuring that they had water, cleaning up manure and general maintenance.
The sheriff’s investigation report indicates county authorities were in contact with state veterinary experts and other agencies for their guidance and opinions on the video, including the Animal Health Section of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Sheriff’s investigators also contacted a mink farm veterinary expert recommended by DATCP.
“I was informed that there are two standard ways the mink industry does euthanasia for minks; one is carbon monoxide, second is carbon dioxide,” the detective wrote in his report. “These are both (accepted) ways as long as the proper equipment is used in the proper way.”
The American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines also state that euthanizing an animal by breaking its neck is also acceptable, the report states.
The veterinarian met with a sheriff’s detective and a deputy trained in assessing animal cruelty allegations to inspect the farm on Thursday.
The investigation report indicated that cages were of proper size, with adequate shelter, and were high enough off the ground to allow feces to drop to the floor and not contaminate the cages. Ample water was also being provided to the cages, according to the report.
The report states the euthanasia chamber seen in the video was inspected and was described by the veterinarian as a commercial chamber for the fur and mink industry.
Authorities also interviewed farm owner Leo Dillenburg.
According to the report, “nothing on the Dillenburg property rose to the level of probable cause for a crime.”
The sheriff’s department said the case remains open, however, and could be reactivated pending new or further information being provided by PETA.
PETA issued a statement blasting the sheriff’s department decision to “give a pass” to the abuses documented in the video.
“People who are shocked by the abuses will be revolted by the failure of the authorities to stop them,” PETA said.