Poacher has to pay PETA

[billythekidrock]

This might get ya riled up.

http://www.huntthewest.com/updates/updates-poacher.htm

Watch, now PETA will try to make this mandatory across the country.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Thats BS! 

[sisu]

Thats BS! 

I agree.

[Wea300mag]

The loser judge is most likely a PETA member. What the guy did was wrong but making him pay PETA, give me a break.

[huntingnut]

Just more ammo for the PETA freaks.

[popeshawnpaul]

I would appeal that within the hour of the ruling.  What I'm really interested in is whether someone else can appeal it or if they won't have standing to challenge this.  Obviously the guy who plead guilty won't challenge the sentence as he just wants to get on with his life and doesn't want to piss the judge off anymore. 

Judges are allowed to impose reasonable conditions as part of a judgment and sentence.  I would doubt this is considered reasonable.  Some of us attorneys in WA are steaming because a local judge is making individuals work at the courthouse as a greeter for the front door of the courthouse as part of their sentence.  Community service is one thing, but we believe that is going too far. 

[Ray]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/outdoors/20071017-1018-wst-beardeath.html

Bear-baiting sentence includes donation to anti-hunting group
 
ASSOCIATED PRESS

10:18 a.m. October 17, 2007

ASPEN, Colo. – The punishment for a Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to baiting and illegally killing a bear includes making a $500 donation to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which opposes hunting.
Craig Miller, 43, of Little Canada, Minn., pleaded guilty on Monday to three misdemeanor charges after killing the black bear on Sept. 1. His sentence included probation, loss of hunting privileges and more than $5,000 in fines.


 The PETA donation “wasn't what I was expecting,” said Miller's defense attorney, John Van Ness. “I don't know where that came from, the PETA business. I know they are opposed to fur coats.”
Miller said he would make the contribution as ordered but declined to say whether he thought PETA would use the money well.

Randy Hampton, a spokesman for the state Division of Wildlife, suggested the money could have been better used locally for buying bear-proof garbage containers to discourage the animals from foraging in town, or to support a private wildlife rehabilitation center in Colorado.

He said the agency wasn't consulted beforehand.

PETA spokeswoman Daphna Nachminovitch said this is not the first time someone has been ordered to give money to the group in a criminal case, but it's not common.

“It's a gesture on the part of the judge to say this bear mattered and that a donation should be made in his memory,” she said. “Five-hundred dollars isn't going to make up for the suffering this bear endured.”

The sentence was handed down by retired District Judge Chuck Buss, who was filling in for the vacationing Judge James Boyd.

On its Web site, PETA calls sport hunting “cruel and unnecessary.”
 

[cipryan]

That is ridiculous.  No one should be ordered to pay to a private organization.  I hate the poacher just as much as I hate PETA, but this is got be against something.

[Blacktail135]

 If I just wanted to get on with my life and not risk pissing the judge off further, I would mail PETA 1 penny a month until I payed the fine off or ran out of time, whichever came first. But, knowing me I would appeal the dork judges decision just on principal.

[Intruder]

I'd rather go to jail than pay 1 penny to those f**kheads.

[Blacktail135]

I know what your saying but, pride will only get you so far. BTW.....be nice to Bubba when he come's!

[addicted]

If I just wanted to get on with my life and not risk pissing the judge off further, I would mail PETA 1 penny a month until I payed the fine off or ran out of time, whichever came first. But, knowing me I would appeal the dork judges decision just on principal.

my thoughts exactly. it would only take about 140 years.  stupid poacher paying stupid org.

[bearhunter59]

Heck, I was told one time, and I don't know how correct this is, but part of our license fees goes to fund the Humane Society...which is anti-hunting as well....   How stupid is that???

[Hermit]

Thats pretty crappy. No one should be forced to "donate" to any cause they don't agree with. I'd sooner or later get my $500 back in some way.

[jstamp]

I would have not payed the $500 and had a warrant issued for contempt of court. Then I would have sat in jail and costed the colorado tax payers more than $500 in protest of the fine. Sooner or later it would have drawn enough attention to probably been dropped. I would rather sit in jail then pay those nut jobs anything.