Culled mink ‘back from the dead’ after burial
- by Leona Burton
- in World Media
- — Nov 28, 2020
" Gases cause animals to swell, and in the worst case, mink comes out of the earth", said Jannike Elmegaard of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration.
After a mutated version of the novel coronavirus was found in the animals, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced a cull in early November of the estimated 15 to 17 million minks in the Scandinavian nation, the world's biggest exporter of their fur.
Experts believe the sandy-ish soil the creatures were buried under is largely to blame for their resurfacing, noting that if the earth had been more "clayish" the mink probably wouldn't have burst out.
Carcasses of dead minks rose to the surface in Denmark's mass mink graves due to gases from decomposition.
More news: Premier says province ready to distribute potential COVID-19 vaccine when availableDenmark's government said Friday that it was considering digging up and cremating the hastily buried carcasses of millions of culled minks in the latest twist to a virus-linked farming scandal that has shaken the government.
"This is a natural process", Thomas Kristensen, a national police spokesperson said. "Unfortunately, one metre of soil is not just one metre of soil - it depends on what type of soil it is".
The order was given after authorities found COVID-19 outbreaks at hundreds of mink farms, including a new strain of the virus, suspected of being able to compromise the efficacy of vaccines.
The corpses lay in trenches more than 8 feet deep and 10 feet wide and the first meter of dead mink was covered in chalk before another layer was added underneath the dirt, According to the Associated Press.
More news: World Health Organization releases new physical exercise guidelines to fight COVID-19Last week, the Danish government concluded that the potential threat to human vaccines was "very likely extinguished", in the absence of any new cases of the mutated version.
Denmark's state broadcaster, DR, was reporting the unusual phenomenon at mass burial sites in a military training field, the Telegraph reported.
Besides being a grisly sight, local media began citing concerns about the buried animals contaminating nearby lakes and underground water reserves, possibly spoiling ground and drinking water supplies, The Guardian reports.
"The authorities are playing with our environment, and using it as a dumping ground", a local politician, Leif Brogger, told Jyllands Posten.
More news: Ravens-Steelers game pushed to Tuesday due to COVID-19 testsLeaders said the grave would be monitored by officials Let's put a fence. Thanks for reminding us it's still 2020. Newspapers have referred to them as the "zombie mink".
