🚀 go-pugleaf

Reward for capture of trio in duck shooting video
 
 
By Mark Iype, August 6, 2009 

 
Some unidentified gun-toting young men are being hunted by Alberta and 
Saskatchewan conservation officers after they were captured in a 
YouTube video illegally shooting ducklings and other protected 
migratory birds. The video, which was posted on YouTube last week, has 
infuriated hunting and wildlife conser
 
Some unidentified gun-toting young men are being hunted by Alberta and 
Saskatchewan conservation officers after they were captured in a 
YouTube video illegally shooting ducklings and other protected 
migratory birds. The video, which was posted on YouTube last week, has 
infuriated hunting and wildlife conser
Photograph by: Screen grab, Youtube

A YouTube video featuring three unidentified young men giggling while 
gunning down ducklings from a parked car, has prompted an offer of 
reward money from three different groups to help capture the men.

The Saskatchewan government, the Canadian Humane Society, and a small 
Saskatchewan hunting outfit have all offered rewards for information 
that helps authorities capture the three men in the video.

The Saskatchewan environment ministry has already received a number of 
tips on its tip line, said Val Nicholson, a spokeswoman for the 
ministry. If the information helps catch the three men, the informant, 
who can remain anonymous, could qualify for a cash reward, she said.

"The amount is variable and depends on the seriousness of the offence," 
she said, adding that this crime "definitely qualifies as serious."

Michael O'Sullivan, the executive director of the Canadian Humane 
Society said his group is offering $1,000 for anyone that help catch 
the perpetrators.

"They are brutal, sub-human cowards," said O'Sullivan. "If I was their 
neighbour, I would turn them in immediately."

A Saskatchewan-based hunting enthusiast group, the Buck Boyz, have also 
offered an $1,000 reward for information about the YouTube video.

"Ethically � we are outraged that someone put video footage of such 
unnecessary killing of birds on YouTube," said J.P. Wadsworth in a 
statement announcing the reward.

The four-minute video, which has had more than 20,000 viewings in five 
days, shows the trio blasting away at ducklings and other protected 
waterfowl in a pond � believed to be somewhere in rural Alberta or 
Saskatchewan � while cracking jokes.

Provincial authorities in Alberta and Saskatchewan are leading the 
search, and Sujata Raisinghani, a spokeswoman for Environment Canada, 
said in a statement Thursday that the federal authorities are now 
working with the two Prairie provinces in an effort to hunt down the 
three men.

Most migratory birds in Canada are protected under the Migratory Birds 
Convention Act, administered by Environment Canada and provincial 
government enforcement agencies.

The video has raised the hackles of wildlife groups and animal lovers 
across the country.

"I was disgusted," said Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation executive 
director Darrell Crabbe. "It doesn't look like they have been out of 
the evolutionary tree very long. These yahoos didn't show any ethics at 
any level."

The video begins with an image of the Nintendo video game, Duck Hunt, 
and then cuts to a young man driving a Hyundai Tiburon with a rifle in 
his lap. From the driver's seat, he then begins to shoot at ducks in a 
pond, repeatedly blasting away at the remains of one floating carcass, 
to his friends' amusement.

The video was first posted on YouTube on July 30. The person who 
originally posted the video has since closed the YouTube account in an 
attempt to make it unavailable. But the video was picked up by a third 
party and has been re-posted on the popular video site under the name 
"duckhunt," in the hopes it will reveal information leading to the 
trio's capture.

The men's faces can be clearly seen in the video. In addition, the 
topography of the area, which includes a canola field and a quick shot 
of a road sign, leads authorities to believe the video was shot in 
either southwestern Saskatchewan or southeastern Alberta.

A group of outraged hunters has created a Facebook campaign to catch 
the shooters, called Get The Poachers. "These guys are not hunters! 
They are poachers!" the page reads. "Everyone should be disgusted by 
the total lack of regard for the law, and lack of respect for animals."

The trio could be facing a number of charges, from careless use of a 
firearm to poaching. Fines could be as high as $10,000.