13 animals poisoned Roanoke, VA (US) Incident Date: Sunday, Feb 27, 2005 County: Roanoke City Local Map: available Disposition: Not Charged Abuser names unreleased

Case ID: 4398 Classification: Poisoning Animal: raccoon, other wildlife, bird (wildlife) View more cases in VA (US) Abuse was retaliation against animal's bad behavior Login to Watch this Case

A Roanoke County man is under investigation by federal authorities after an animal control officer found poisoned bait and dead animals, including a hawk, behind his property, police said.

According to warrants, the man told police he had been having problems with animals disturbing the ornamental pheasants that he raises. The man is not being named at this time because no charges have been filed.

The investigation started when Roanoke County Animal Control Officer Mickey Catron responded to an animal cruelty complaint. It was turned over to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Kelly Holland in Abingdon when the hawk was confirmed to have been poisoned.

Hawks are a federally protected species under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

According to Catron, he responded to a home near the Blue Hills Golf Club on Feb. 27 and "ran into a high concentration of dead animals" - about 13 dead animals in a 40-yard radius behind the house. The animals included skunks, raccoons, foxes, opossums and a hawk.

Police said it was too difficult to tell wha t kind of hawk it was because of the degree of decomposition.

Catron also found a trap baited with a can of sardines. Nearby was a bowl filled with hot dog pieces, which were covered with a black granular substance, the warrant said.

It also stated that Catron found some hot dog slices attached to twigs on some pine trees near the scene.

At the house behind which the evidence was found, Catron observed a man feeding some ornamental pheasants kept in cages. Ornamental pheasants are gorgeously colored birds that are legally raised for sale, trade or fun.

Catron interviewed the man, who told him that he'd had some trouble with wild animals disturbing his birds. The man admitted to Catron that he had poisoned animals in the past but "was having a difficult time finding the herbicide anymore," the document says.

According to the warrant, the cage and hot dogs were actually found on property adjacent to the man's, but the man told Catron he had permission from his neighbor to place the items there.

With permission from the man's neighbor, Catron collected some evidence on Feb. 27 and 28, including the hot dogs, sardines, a bottle stenciled with a poison label, a dead raccoon, a dead fox and the dead hawk.

Catron came back later with the warrant and collected a jar containing black granules similar to those found on the hot dogs.

A test of the granular substance on the hot dogs was positive for Aldicarb, a highly toxic chemical. The contents of the animals' stomachs also tested positive for Aldicarb, which was determined to be the cause of death, according to the search warrant.

Catron said this week that Aldicarb is a pesticide usually used in Southern states on crops such as soybeans, tobacco and potatoes. He said citizens are required to have a license to purchase and use Aldicarb, which the man under investigation does not have.

Any animal that ingests Aldicarb dies quickly, Catron said, which may explain why the dead animals were found so close to the bait.

The search warrants issued were for investigation of animal cruelty and illegal use of a pesticide, both state crimes. But Catron said the man has not been charged with those crimes because Roanoke County police are waiting to see what the federal investigation will yield.

Special Agent Holland was out of the office most of the week and could not be reached for comment.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Nicholas Throckmorton said most native North American hawks are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, including those that are common in Virginia: the Cooper's hawk, red-tailed hawk, red-shouldered hawk and sharp-shinned hawk.

Many hawks are killed accidentally each year because they are hit by cars, electrocuted by power lines or fly into the reflective glass of tall buildings, officials said.

But Jeff Trollinger of the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries Department said only the U.S. Agriculture Department's Wildlife Service Office may issue a permit for a protected bird to be intentionally killed, and even then the reasons must be highly documented and only professionals may do the deed.

Trollinger, who is project manager for the Watchable Wildlife Program of the game department, said many citizens do not realize that a lot of birds are legally protected. According to the law, even the feathers of a hawk are illegal to possess, and it is unlawful to disturb a hawk's nest, eggs or chicks.

Violation of the act is a misdemeanor punishable by no more than six months in prison, no more than $15,000 in fines, or both.

Southwest Virginians have gotten into trouble before for killing protected wildlife. In 2000, a Wythe County farmer was ordered to pay $1,000 in fines and $5,000 in restitution for soaking cracked corn in poison and killing about 800 birds, including red-winged blackbirds, grackles and a meadowlark.

Larry Blevins, a Tazewell County man who raised fighting chickens, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $15,000 in fines and restitution in 2001 for shooting a red-tailed hawk near his farm and asking a farm worker to lie about it.

It was the second time Blevins was convicted of such a crime. In 1995, he took responsibility for killing two golden eagles and a red-tailed hawk. At that time, he received probation and was ordered to pay $16,000 in restitution.

Neighborhood Map

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Back to Top

Add this case to:

Del.icio.us

|

Digg

|

Furl

|

References

The Roanoke Times - April 16, 2005

« VA State Animal Cruelty Map

Not sure what these icons mean? Click here.

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.