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Guyanese native fined for illegal possession of birds
A Guyanese-born man, Stephen Andrew Moore, 46, of Pocono Township, Pennsylvania, must pay $2,250 in animal cruelty fines after pleading guilty Thursday to illegally possessing various protected species of birds.
On June 2, the Pennsylvania Game Commission got a tip that Moore illegally had 60 birds, two groundhogs, two raccoons and three squirrels at his home near Camelback Mountain.
Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Conservation officer Cory Bentzoni and supervisor Tim Conway remove birds from the Pocono Township property of Stephen Andrew Moore, 46.
Officials responded and found the animals living in unhealthy, insanitary conditions.
Most of the birds, 18 of which were found dead, were in Moore’s cellar, deprived of healthy sunlight. Some of them were in homemade cages while the rest were in homemade traps.
Officials said one raccoon had to be euthanised because it had grown so large that they couldn’t get it out of its cage.
Moore said he has been collecting animals since boyhood in his native Guyana and that he didn’t know doing it here is illegal.
Officials took possession of the animals and brought them to the Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center directed by Kathy Uhler. An all-volunteer effort, the center raises funds and applies for grants to provide better care for animals taken from such situations.
Once the animals are back to health, they are released back into the wild, Uhler said.
Moore, defense attorney David Skutnik, Uhler and Game Commission officials, represented by attorney Jason Raup, appeared Thursday before Tannersville Magisterial District Judge Thomas Olsen.
Moore received 60 citations for animal cruelty and 60 citations for illegally possessing protected species. He pleaded guilty to only 30 illegal possession citations, each of which is a $75 fine.
Moore also must pay $750 in restitution to the Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center.
While Moore faces jail time if he doesn’t pay the fines, there is no way to guarantee he will pay the restitution.
“We would have to sue him for that money if we didn’t get it, and we don’t have the financial resources to go to court,” Uhler said. “If he doesn’t pay, that’s money we can’t recoup after what we’ve spent on caring for these animals.
“This case, it’s upsetting,” she said.
“I hope Mr. Moore has learned from this. I don’t think many people know what’s against the law when it comes to wildlife.”
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