California animal activists charged with releasing minks from Iowa

Federal prosecutors in California have charged two animal rights activists with releasing hundreds of minks from a Keota farm, as well as terrorizing other farms in the Midwest and California, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages during cross-country road trips in 2013.

Joseph Brian Buddenberg, 31, and Nicole Juanita Kissane, 28, both of Oakland, Calif., were charged with conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act last Friday in U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California.

If convicted, they each face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The activists released about 5,740 mink from farms and vandalized homes and businesses involved in the fur industry, according to the indictment and an FBI news release. The two defendants planned multiple cross-country trips in the summer and fall of 2013 and drove about 40,000 miles to harm individuals associated with the fur industry and their properties.

The activists allegedly sneaked onto farms in Iowa, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota and released mink and destroyed breeding records, the indictment contends. The two sneaked into the Donald B. Conrad Fur Farm in Keota, on Aug. 30, 2013 and released about 400 to 500 minks, the document shows.

Buddenberg and Kissane also are accused of using paint, paint stripper, muriatic acid, super glue-type substance and other substances to damage property of a retail furrier in San Diego and residences and other property in Spring Valley and La Mesa, Calif.

The defendants allegedly covered up their activity, the indictment states, by not using their phones and staying off their online accounts and email. They also withdrew hundreds of dollars from their bank accounts and only used cash during the trips. The two were unemployed but authorities say they sold items on eBay and Amazon to prepare and finance these trips.

Authorities also said the two drafted 'communiques,” describing their conduct, and posted them on websites associated with 'animal rights extremists.”