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Two Wildlife Agencies Battle in Court

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP — A wildlife refuge in the Poconos and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission are at odds over some animals the state claims the refu...
mon animals

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP -- A wildlife refuge in the Poconos and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission are at odds over some animals the state claims the refuge shouldn't even have.

The disagreement focuses on the issue of permits, and it led to a court appearance Tuesday.

The Fish and Boat Commission and the Pocono Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center argued for hours in court. The heated disagreement involved snakes, turtles, and toads, and just how they are obtained and cared for.

It was a rather strange situation in district court in Snydersville: the Pocono Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center fighting citations from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

It all started with an ad listed on Craigslist for a snake by the wildlife center. An undercover conservation officer responded.

"We just really needed to have a snake donated for use in education," said center director Kathy Uhler. "All we did was offer him money for his out-of-pocket expense for gasoline."

The sale or trade of snakes native to the state is illegal, but officers slammed her with even more charges after looking inside the wildlife center in the Cherry Valley, claiming she didn't have the proper permits for some turtles, turtle shells, and a few toads.

"What they did, I thought, was way, way out of line, way over-zealous, and they were four months late filing the citations," said center co-director Eric Uhler.

"There's a process, a permitting process, that she has to go through to legally possess these animals. Once she goes through that proper permit, or proper licensing, she will be able to take these animals in the future in," said Fish and Boat Commission official Eric Weredyk.

Uhler argued for hours in front of a district magistrate that the Fish and Boat Commission's permitting process was unclear. But now she says this case has changed the permit process just within the last month.

"Absolutely we set precedent, and I'm very happy that the process is now beginning so that anybody in Pennsylvania who has the knowledge and experience to care for amphibians now has the opportunity to do that."

And that's something even the prosecutors in this case were pleased with.

"Oh, absolutely, I hope it clarifies issues statewide, because we want to be as clear as possible to the fishing and boating public," Weredyk said.

The wildlife center was only found guilty for the sale or trade of a snake. All other charges were dropped or continued pending permits.

Uhler says she likely will appeal the guilty charge or face a $150 fine.

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