EDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 mink are on the loose in Stearns County in central Minnesota after burglars entered a mink farm, cut a fence and opened cages to let them free.

The incident happened sometime between 10:30 p.m. Sunday and 5:30 a.m. Monday on Lang Farms LLC about 2.5 miles northwest of Eden Valley. That’s about 30 miles southwest of St. Cloud.

As of late Monday, the sheriff’s office said no one had been arrested in the case.

The Stearns County sheriff’s office responded to the burglary and vandalism just after 5:30 a.m. and reported that an someone entered the property, dismantled areas of the exterior fence that surrounds the barns and released all of the mink from their cages.

Sheriff Don Gudmundson said Tuesday he believes members of an animal rights group released the mink, but didn’t steal any of the animals, together worth $750,000.

“It’s pretty hard to steal 30,000 to 40,000 mink. What are you going to do put them in a trunk? They’d chew your fingers off,” Gudmundson said.

Because the mink were domesticated, they are not expected to survive in the wild, though some might survive initially and be loose in the area, said the sheriff’s report. The release took place adjacent to a wildlife management area and a wilderness preservation area.

Hundreds of mink have already been found dead in the area of the farm, the sheriff said.

“If they (perpetrators) actually cared about animals they wouldn’t release thousands of mink to die out in the heat. We’ve already got reports of chickens killed. Don’t they care about God’s chickens?” Gudmundson said.

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Therapy dog-in training stolen in St. Paul found, reunited with owners If residents see any mink in the area, they are asked not to approach them because the animals might bite.

Lang Farms, which raises mink for pelts, asked that anyone who spots a mink call the farm so that experienced mink handlers can recapture the animals. The phone number at the farm is 320-453-4750.

The FBI is assisting in the investigation.

The release of predatory domestic animals will have a negative impact on the surrounding native wildlife population, officials said.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to contact the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office at 320-251-4240 or Tri-County Crimestoppers at 1-800-255-1301 for a possible reward.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.