March 28, 2007
Serial wild turkey poacher convicted
The newest issue of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Outdoor Report includes this gem. I had to chuckle when the poacher was listed as the "former" assistant chief of Spotsylvania County Animal Control. Can't very well have a convicted serial poacher working in law enforcement, can you?
"Serial Wild Turkey Poacher Convicted
A tip from a concerned sportsman to VDGIF game wardens has resulted in the largest criminal conviction of illegal wild turkey poaching in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The single defendant in this case, Jason Cook, a former assistant chief of Spotsylvania County Animal Control, was charged with nearly 100 criminal violations related to his illegal turkey poaching activities over the past 15 years.
A surveillance operation led to a search warrant for the defendant's residence. The execution of this search warrant included the seizure of 81 wild turkey beards, 17 turkey legs with spurs, 38 additional turkey spurs, 6 sets of turkey tail feathers, and hunting photo albums containing pictures of the defendant posing with illegally shot wild turkey carcasses.
The conviction resulted in loss of hunting privileges, jail time, community service and over $10,000 in fines and game restoration costs."
I was at DGIF headquarters in Richmond yesterday and saw that the agency has put many of the confiscated beards and spurs into a special, transportable display case. The only problem was they had fuzzed out Cook's face in a picture of him posing with a bunch of dead turkeys.
Comments
[April 22, 2008 9:49 PM]
VHDOA : →http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.comMark, I virtually guarantee you this guy was one of those not doing his job when Spotsylvania resident Mrs. Dorothy Sullivan was killed by pit bulls in 2005. She complained repeatedly to Animal Control and no one did anything until she finally lost her life. Cook was probably out poaching, instead of on the job.
Bob Kane, President Virginia Hunting Dog Owners' Association Chairman Emeritus, Sportsmen and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com http://saova.org