A woman from Maidstone, Sask., has been fined and suspended from hunting after pleading guilty to trafficking and illegally transporting bear parts.
The trafficking involved black bear paws and gall bladders, according a news release from the provincial government. Those items are commonly sold on the black market and are often used in traditional Asian medicine.
The investigation began in March 2022 after the general investigations section of the Ministry of Community Safety (previously called corrections, policing and public safety) received a tip about suspected trafficking of bear gall bladders.
Conservation officers launched their investigation in Maidstone, about 50 kilometres east of Lloydminster, before expanding into British Columbia.
Clearly not in the US.
Down here we have the right to bear arms.
… I’ll see myself out…
I’ll open the door with my bear hands.
The right to arm bears might be more pertinent in this case. They become much less attractive targets if they’re shooting back.
(Seriously, though, how much longer do we have to wait before we can employ cloning/vat-grown tissue strategies to feed the insatiable demand of traditional Asian “medicine” markets, and stop killing animals for ineffective superstitious bullshit?)
She’d have been nominated to head the department of health and human services…