Sun, Nov 23, 2008

Opinion

Wildlife cruelty postings are illegal, just plain wrong

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.07.2008
The Arizona Game and Fish Department is investigating a series of postings on Tucson craigslist forums last week in which posters bragged of poisoning or shooting wildlife illegally.
"These are criminal offenses and carry fines and jail time," said Game and Fish public information officer Aninna Thornburg.
The postings in question are no longer on craigslist, which includes among its terms of service that users "agree not to post, e-mail or otherwise make available content . . . that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing . . ."
The reasons these revolting behaviors are wrong are patently obvious:
● They're illegal.
● Using poison threatens other wildlife, household pets and even potentially people
● The behavior is simply cruel.
Thornburg said Game and Fish has assigned an officer to investigate and cannot comment unless charges are filed.
Attacks on javelina are "actually not very common," she said. There are spring and fall state-run javelina hunts, she said. Hunters are required to be permitted, licensed and to draw for permission to hunt in a specific area. Each hunter is allowed to take one javelina.
If you're interested in a legal hunt, check out the Game and Fish events. Otherwise, you're breaking the law.