Rocky Mountain Mink Refuge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rescue organization situated in the heart of Utah, with a dedicated focus on the welfare and conservation of wild and domestic mink and ferrets. Our mission is twofold: to actively contribute to the well-being of these enchanting yet misunderstood creatures, and to serve as an educational hub that teaches the public about their unique qualities and needs.
We specialize in providing expert care and being a safe haven for any mink that find their way to us. We strive to ensure that each animal receives the attention, medical care, and love they deserve. Our commitment extends to creating an environment that promotes both their physical and emotional well-being through a variety of resources.
We network and work in collaboration with a multitude of exotic animal sanctuaries, wildlife rehabilitators, and educational institutions. Our collaborative efforts span the entirety of the United States (including several international countries), and we are dedicated to providing up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive education about mink and ferrets.
Our educational outreach is crucial, especially in critical situations where knowledge can directly impact the well-being of both animals and humans involved. We are proactive in our approach, stepping in to offer crucial insights and information following incidents where the misguided actions by extreme activists lead to the mass release of domestic mink from fur farms. We meticulously explain the severe consequences of such actions, detailing how detrimental it is to the animals, the damage it poses to the ecosystems, and the challenges it creates for the local communities.
Locally, we play a pivotal role in responding to reports of mink sightings. Our team is ready to set up live traps to safely capture these animals, or we can guide individuals through the process of setting up a baited live trap themselves, ensuring the safe and humane handling of the mink without endangering the person either. Once captured, we take responsibility for the animal, picking them up and bringing them into our care.
In our unwavering commitment to serve the local community, our organization also extends its support to ferrets in need. We warmly welcome ferrets that have been surrendered by their owners and take on the task of finding them suitable and loving forever homes. Ferrets that are elderly, medically fragile, those exhibiting behavioral challenges, or those deemed “un-adoptable” by people, often become permanent residents of our rescue. Here they find a sanctuary where they can spend the remainder of their days in safety and with the affection and care that they deserve. For some of these ferrets, our rescue provides them with the first secure environment and loving care that they have ever experienced in their entire lives.
Our adoption program is stringent, focusing on finding the most suitable placements for these animals. Mink adoptions are not open to the general public. We adopt mink out to licensed facilities, where they can serve as educational ambassadors, helping to spread awareness and understanding about their species. Additionally, we may also adopt mink out to specific individual homes with extensive mustelid experience, ensuring that these mink will lead safe, comfortable, and enriched lives. While ferrets are adoptable to the general public, we still work on finding the most ideal situation for each individual or bonded group and their needs.
Due to decades of genetics bred for the sole purpose of quality and quantity of pelts on the fur farms, domestic mink genetics have a lot of health issues (often only becoming known later in the animal’s life) and most ranch mink are killed under 1yo.
It is not only illegal, but also incredibly unethical , to release animals with these poor genetics into the wilderness, as their breeding with wild populations will only weaken and even lead to the decimation of the true wild bloodlines. They can also carry novel viruses from the farm that would spread to other wildlife.
Aside from these reasons, domestic mink are also less likely to survive in the wild because of their born reliance upon humans for sustenance, shelter and medical. They are not used to the other predators that may live in the area they escape or are released into, where to find food, where to find shelter from the elements, how to avoid coming into contact with humans.
So, if these mink are kept in such poor conditions on the farms where they are bred and killed for their fur, yet they cannot be released into the wild, what can you do?
RMMR endeavors to capture and collect any escaped, released or owner surrendered mink and get them appropriate veterinary care, food, and shelter. After some time to assess the personality and needs of each individual mink, we find them placement with suitable legal facilities and homes where they can live out the rest of their lives with as much quality care as can be provided to them. For some mink this means as close to a wild life that they can lead in captivity apart from actually being free in the wild, and for others this might mean a life with a human pampering them and letting them enjoy any and all pet luxuries available.
Any wildlings that come into our care will be assessed for their needs and rehabilitated for the purpose of release back into the wild where they belong, unless they are deemed non-releasable for any reason, in which case they will receive suitable placement as educational ambassadors.
The ethical rehab and release of true wildlings and the provision of a safe life and suitable placement for any captive-born domestics will always be our first goal.
It is our overall goal to be able to provide specialized care and rehabilitation for all members of the mustelid family in the future.
Though, until such time as we are able to acquire dedicated land to use for the refuge, any wild mustelids who end up in our care get assessed, rehabbed and released back into the wild with the cooperation and guidance of other licensed wildlife rehabilitators.
RMMR is dedicated to providing educational resources and safety advice to the public regarding all mustelidae, and our network is set up to share information and resources among rehabbers and organizations for the overall betterment of the care any of us can provide.
RMMR both envisions and strives to have a continuously expanding network of rescuers, wildlife rehabbers, veterinarians, exotic animal specialists, and game rangers willing to work together for the greater good of the animals in not only our country, but globally.
We promise to always do everything within our abilities to provide any animals coming into our care with the best possible choices and outcomes, selflessly, solely for the sake of the animal in question.
No sacrifice will ever be in vain, every life is precious and important.
