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Would love to see them catch some real poachers sometimes besides arresting antique dealers and checking boats.
"Buying, selling, or transporting protected wildlife, mussels and fishes, raw fur, or processed wildlife."
Processed wildlife, is what got them as it doesn't imply any protected species. It doesn't say Processed protected wildlife just processed wildlife (mounts, sheds, turkey feather displays, all that junk). Most of us know this law but non-hunters/fishers could very well not. Doesn't excuse the crime any though. If you get pulled over for speeding, saying "I didn't know the speed limit" doesn't matter, it's still your fault.
And yes that law was written in the '50s but it was updated in 2006. So the antiquated law defense shouldn't work.
I could understand getting a warning for 1 or 2 mounts but 31 counts a piece is a little excessive. If you deal with that many furs or mounts you should know the laws before you start selling them. If a restaurant just started selling alcohol without being licensed it would be the same thing. Research your products before you start selling them. There is a video on YouTube that I just watched the other day with a q&a with Tim farmer and this was covered there as well.
Besides, they DO catch actual poachers all the time, if you follow the news.
Since they didn't own these but instead were selling them on some type of consignment, I wonder if any of the owners will be charged as well?
Interesting......
I have a little different take on this........but I'm thinking there MUST be more to the story than what we actually know.
Anyone know?
Later,
Geo
I agree, there really seems to be some missing information about this entire story.
What is your "different" take on this. You peeked my curiosity now
I keep coming back to this line: "Since we opened our doors in 2003 we have sold animal mounts: deer, turkey, bore, antlers, (shed's included.) etc."
I find it hard to believe that they were in the business for 9 years and had no idea that what they were doing was illegal. I don't even hunt, and I've known that for years. It seems to me that in all that time, SOME one would have said, "Hey, isn't selling this stuff illegal?" My take is they were flouting the law and got caught. Too bad. I see no reason to give them a warning, and I don't think law enforcement's methods were heavy-handed at all. What were they supposed to do, call ahead and tell them they were coming, so they could get rid of the evidence?
And let's remove the word "endangered" from the discussion. THEY inserted that, not KDWFR. The species in question are "protected," because you need a license to kill them. Requiring those licenses is how KDFWR "protects" the species.