The Stuff Of Childhood Is Now Criminal
The problem with having laws against everything is that they can be applied without sense being applied to the situation...as they were in this case.
It's a pretty common experience in childhood to see an abandoned baby bird or a hurt bird and to try to nurse it back to health.
Here's a story out of Fredericksburg, VA, of the consequences these days of doing that sort of thing. Kristin Fisher writes at WUSA9 that a baby woodpecker was about to be eaten by the family cat, and Skylar Capo, an 11-year-old aspiring vet, sprang into action:
Skylar couldn't find the woodpecker's mother, so she brought it to her own mother, Alison Capo, who agreed to take it home."She was just going to take care of it for a day or two, make sure it was safe and uninjured, and then she was going to let it go," said Capo.
But on the drive home, the Capo family stopped at this Lowes and they brought the bird inside because of the heat. That's when they were confronted by a woman from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
"She was really nervous. She was shaking. Then she pulled out a badge," said Capo.
The problem was that the woodpecker is a protected species under the Federal Migratory Bird Act. Therefore, it's illegal to take or transport a baby woodpecker. The Capo's say they had no idea.
They let the bird go, but...
...Two weeks later, that same woman from the Department of Fish and Wildlife showed up at the Capo's front door. This time, Capo says she was accompanied by a state trooper. Alison Capo was cited for unlawfully taking a migratory bird and now she's been slapped with a $535 fine.
This kind of idiocy pecks away at our sanity bit by bit.
David at August 2, 2011 8:13 AM
Amen, David.
Flynne at August 2, 2011 8:15 AM
Tell DFW to go piss up a rope.
brian at August 2, 2011 9:22 AM
This is evidence we have too much government and offers a clue where we can cut.
MarkD at August 2, 2011 9:25 AM
I'd tell the judge
"yes sir Ive learned my lesson, the next time I see a wounded member of an endagered species I'll just leave it to die"
lujlp at August 2, 2011 9:31 AM
yeah Luj, in the perverse meanings of such laws, that is exactly what you MUST do.
The problem with filing suit over such stupidity, is that they will be using your own tax money to fight you [depending on the state], but I'd sure as hell be suing the officer as an individual, because she is the person here with the ability to decide if this is an infraction or not. Seems like she doesn't know what good faith is, and CERTAINLY as such an officer, she didn't take control of the wildlife and take it to their vets or anything. She should be disciplined for that alone.
SwissArmyD at August 2, 2011 9:40 AM
She was shaking and nervous on her own at Lowes, but with a johnny law state sturmtruppen (and his gun) she was all bidness and authoritarian, saving the animals! Typical bureaucrat revenuer.
Lujlp, a variant of that idea is called the 3-S principle. Shoot, shovel, and shut up. Otherwise you'll have DFW wench camping on your doorstep, for great justice!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting,_shoveling,_and_shutting_up
Sio at August 2, 2011 12:10 PM
We had the big tribal pow-wow up here two weeks ago. Native Americans from all over the northwest come and celebrate, sell their wares, etc. One of the most prominent things for sale are eagle feathers- eagles are pretty common up here. They were selling for $5-$50 each. Now, if I bought one, and got stopped on the way home or I suppose even just seen purchasing one, I could get up to $100,000 in fines and a year in prison.
http://boingboing.net/2009/06/09/keeping-a-bald-eagle.html
On our hikes it is not at all unusual to find a bird carcass washed up on the lakeshore. I know just how crazy reactionary the wildlife authorities get up here after we tried to turn in a Stellar Jay that bonked it's brains out on our window. The best advice is get out the shovel and tell nobody.
Eric at August 2, 2011 12:56 PM
What a fabulous lesson Ranger Ridiculous and the state just taught that young girl: help an injured animal and get punished.
Bet the next time she sees an animal - or child - that is hurt, she keeps on walking. And knowing this, who could blame her?
UW Girl at August 2, 2011 12:56 PM
I wish the federal government would fine everyone $535, and send a state trooper or federal marshal to everyone's door, every man, woman, and child.
That would be a burden, but it would give everyone a personal taste of how rational the government is, and the folly of writing draconian federal laws.
More federal laws are being written to exclude any requirement of knowledge, or any need to have a bad intent. In many cases it is "do the deed" however small, and get fined or go to jail.
The $535 fines would add up to an immense burden on the country. About 12% of the burden to be placed upon the country in the next 12 months from government borrowing, in addition to any taxes collected.
$1.4 trillion added debt / 307 million population = $4,560 per capita
Andrew_M_Garland at August 2, 2011 1:25 PM
When I save birds and baby possess in suburbia, I cod give two shits about what any authority says, as I answer to higher authorities
ronc at August 2, 2011 4:38 PM
But the parking lot at that Lowe's no doubt had an infestation of illegal alien day laborers that the Feds choose to overlook.
roadgeek at August 2, 2011 6:19 PM
You make horrible laws and people start ignoring all of them. I won't talk to cops and I'll never report a non violent crime. It sucks cause I'm not a big fan of actual crimes but everything is illegal now. Its this simple, Don't talk to cops.
Scott at August 2, 2011 10:00 PM
The article was updated. The fine was waived but the citation still went out in error. The DFW issued an apology.
I imagine the politicking went something like this:
"Technically, we are entitled to the fine and the Department could use the money, considering the state of the federal government. We'll just carry out the citation and if there is any negative publicity we'll just say it was an error and apologize."
Goo at August 3, 2011 10:17 AM
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