Man pleads guilty to snatching 4-week-old bear cubs from den -- gets a slap on the wrist.
A Siskiyou County (California) man admitted he took two bear cubs away from their mother, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
Cody Dylon Setzer, 29, of Yreka took the two cubs, then about 4 weeks old, in March 2019 from their den in a tree that had fallen across a forest road, the department said. According to the department, he pleaded guilty to taking the bears, a violation of state law.
SNIP
In combination with an unrelated case, he was fined $2,290, ordered to complete 200 hours of community service, and placed on a year’s probation with his hunting and fishing privileges suspended.
(Patrick Foy, a captain with the Department of Fish and Wildlife's law enforcement division): “Something wasn’t adding up with the report of two bear cubs being discovered. You don’t just find bear cubs on the side of the road.”
LINK (PAYWALL): https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/Northern-California-man-pleads-guilty-to-17004238.php
FROM THE LINK:
• Setzer called the department several days later to report that he had found them alongside Highway 263
• A skeptical wildlife officer doubted Setzer’s account when no bear tracks or habitat were found.
• When the bears were deemed old enough to survive on their own, in April 2020, they were returned to their native habitat in Shasta County.
• Setzer pleaded guilty in Siskiyou Superior Court in November to possession of a prohibited species and obstructing a peace officer.
This creep should have gotten time in prison. Even the fine is ridiculous.
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