Gray Wolf 'Farm' in Minnesota Threatened with Suit; Alleged Wolf-Skinning

The organization Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) has threatened a lawsuit against a Minnesota wildlife operation called Fur-Ever Wild (FEW). The nonprofit says that FEW's owner skins gray wolves, which are protected under federal law, and sells for profit the pelts. According to ALDF, the owner has made statements to this effect, noted a release.

ALDF recently sent a notice of intent to sue that owner, Teresa Petter. The business's website notes that it is "a working agricultural farm that celebrates our traditional connections to the land and mother nature."

The business is near Eureka Township, Minnesota on 100 acres. It has an entry fee for visitors and has "fur-bearing animals" that include wolves, cougars, bobcats, otters, beavers, lynx, martens, fishers and badgers.

In 60 days, ALDF will take the operation to court unless its owner agrees not to kill and skin the wolves, which are listed as threatened in Minnesota and under the federal Endangered Species Act.

"Fur-Ever Wild's wildlife exhibition and fur-harvesting business exploits wolf pups by first using them as an attraction in the company's petting zoo, then later skinning them for their fur," Jennifer Robbins, an attorney representing ALDF, wrote in the notice.

According to another lawsuit in Minnesota, neighbors have long complained that the operation has a stench, said the release.

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