Humane Society offers reward in death of bear

For more than 100 years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has worked to protect and promote hunting.

Since 1954, the Humane Society of the United States has campaigned against most forms of the sport.

The Humane Society announced that it will offer a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of those responsible for poaching a black bear in Kidder Township, Carbon County, last week. Game Commission officials estimate the bear weighed more than 500 pounds and was at least 10 years old. The agency said it was shot by someone using a crossbow while the bear was near a dumpster in a restaurant parking lot along state Route 940. The bear staggered 25 yards, before it collapsed and died in a nearby parking lot.

Tim Conway, information and education supervisor for the Game Commission’s Northeast Region Office, said there are a few leads in the case, such as the description of a vehicle that was frequently observed in the area before the incident. Whoever is responsible for the act, he said, will face a fine of $500 to $1,500, plus restitution ranging from $800 to $5,000. The agency will pursue the maximum amounts in both cases.

Andrew Page, hunting campaign manager for the Humane Society, called the poaching incident “callous and irresponsible” and said his organization learned about the case from the Game Commission.

“It’s a serious crime and we were in position to offer the $1,000 reward,” Page said. “Rewards such as this work because they increase the visibility of the case.”

Conway said the money could act as an incentive for people to offer information.

“Maybe someone who knows something that they don’t think is important will call us with it. We can put all the pieces together and their information may turn out to be something very substantial,” he said.

The Carbon County incident isn’t the first time an anti-hunting organization has offered a reward for a case being investigated by the Game Commission. Agency spokesman Jerry Feaser said the Fund for Animals offered a $250 reward for information on the shooting of a bald eagle in Franklin County in 2000.

The Humane Society, Feaser said, has been pushing Pennsylvania and other states to implement the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a program supported by the Game Commission that is geared toward cracking down on wildlife crimes.

Page said the Humane Society is prepared to offer rewards in other poaching cases as they occur.

The effort mirrors another society program regarding cruelty to animal cases, he said.

“We may have some differences regarding wildlife, but one thing we can all agree on is poaching is a serious offense,” Page said. “We applaud the Pennsylvania Game Commission for taking enforcement of poaching laws seriously.”