According to Il Mattino di Padova newspaper, animal activists are being blamed for an arson at a mink farm owned by Franco Caccaro in Villa del Conte during the night of December 6-7.

Caccaro told the newspaper, "Yesterday at about 6:30, like every morning, I was going to feed the animals. When I arrived in the barn where we keep the farm equipment, I noticed there was something wrong: the two tractors which are used to distribute food to our 8,000 mink were completely burnt. Only the shells remained."

The door of a large refrigerator was also damaged in the fire. Damages are estimated at 20,000 Euros.

In 2004, several thousand mink were released from cages at the farm.