Idaho Couple May Lose Home Over Mink Farm

According to a story this week in the Idaho State Journal, a couple in Idaho may be forced to lose their home over the Ball Brothers mink farm. “They moved in on us and they have more or less bankrupted us”. In 2007, construction began on the farm, after the Ball brothers made plans to move their fur farm from Morgan, Utah to Malad, Idaho. The farm is estimated to imprison 20,000 mink. Neighbors of the farm fought in court to block the construction of the farm, but ultimately lost. Now two of the neighbors – Bob and Bev Reudter – have had their hours devalued to the point they move lose the property. The couple says that because of the smell of the mink farm, family no longer visits them and friends will not come over. The couple says they can’t cook outside because of the smell and number of flies. “We have flies, not by the hundreds, but by the thousands,” Bev said. “You wake up in the morning and you have to kill flies. You start breakfast, you have to make sure the flies stay off of the breakfast. You leave even a cereal bowl down and it’s (quickly) full of flies.” The Reudter’s gave this admonishment to anyone in a neighborhood where a fur farm might move in: “We just want people to be aware that if they get news there is a mink farm going to go in, to fight, fight, fight, because it’s awful. It’s dropped our quality of life to almost nothing.” This is the full article: MALAD — When a mink farm sought to locate on property adjacent to Bob and Bev Reudter’s rural Malad home five years ago, they and several of their neighbors fought against it to no avail. After nearly five years of living next to the mink farm, which Bev says has robbed the couple of any quality of life, the Reudters are also in a dire financial situation they currently see no escape from. “They moved in on us and they have more or less bankrupted us,” Bev said. “There is $3,000 between us and nothing. Our financial situation is $3,000....