I don't know what forum to post this under so here it goes.
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/03/28/1508774-sun.html
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/03/28/1508774-sun.html
Is this stupid or what?
- Thread starter Brambles
- Start date
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
From the above link:
Man fined for selling a moose head on eBay
By MARK BONOKOSKI
Two Ontario conservation officers -- complete with field kit of bulletproof vests and sidearms -- show up at Ken Procyk's Aurora home one day and pull out their ID.
Introductions and formalities over, one cuts to the chase.
"Are you trying to sell a moose head on eBay?" he asks.
"No," replies Procyk. "I've sold a moose head on eBay. Why? Is there some kind of problem?"
And so it began.
---
The moose head is called Bob. Bob Johnson, to be exact, and fondly named after a friend of Ken Procyk's father, Don, who happened to be a moose-sized man.
Bob -- the moose head, that is -- has been a part of the Procyk family for more than two decades.
It was back in 1985 that Don Procyk was given Bob as a gift. He was living in Calgary then, working for a company that built couplings for the oil industry, and one day a supplier hauled Bob into his office as a present -- it having been shot somewhere in Alberta, and its head kept as a trophy.
For the next year, Bob was a hat rack.
In 1986, when Don Procyk's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, it was decided there was no better gift for such a golden moment than Bob.
And that's when Bob moved to the St. Lawrence Seaway town of Cardinal and took up residence in a loft above the garage where Ken Procyk and his brother used to bunk up while visiting their grandparents.
TOWEL RACK
For that period of his post-mortal life, Bob had a great view of the ships entering the locks.
Following the death of Ken Procyk's grandparents, Bob found himself taking up a prominent spot at the end of the porch of the Procyk family's Lake Ontario cottage near Kingston -- on Nicholson's Point, to be exact.
For the next eight years, Bob was a towel rack, as well as a place to hang wet bathing suits.
By now, of course, he was a celebrity. No visitor to the Procyk cottage could leave without first having their picture taken with Bob.
"We must have a collection of over 60 pictures stored away somewhere," says Ken. "Bob became an icon."
Fast track. The cottage was sold, and Bob was moved to Don Procyk's home, where he spent the next six years in the basement, lovingly covered in blankets.
Then Don Procyk decides to move to Philadelphia on a business venture and Bob suddenly becomes the property of Ken Procyk, the 34-year-old Aurora man who answered his door one day and found two armed conservation officers standing on his doorstep.
"Are you trying to sell a moose head on eBay?" one asks.
"Why?" Procyk says. "Is there some kind of problem?"
---
By this time, Bob is in Buffalo, having arrived as freight in the back of an 18-wheeler, and supposedly destined for St. Louis, Mo., where he would find a new home adorning a wall in a place called the Big Bear Grill.
Ken Procyk has no place for Bob. His side of the garage was a workshop, and his wife's side of the garage was ... well, his wife's side of the garage.
"She didn't want Bob parked there if she couldn't," he said.
So Bob went up for sale on eBay.
Getting Bob packed in a crate is a story on its own, but it was the paperwork that took most of the time and energy.
"I had no idea all the problems," Procyk says. "I got in contact with Ontario Fish and Game twice to figure out what paperwork I needed to ship the moose head to the States and received instructions from them on what forms to print off their website and fill out.
"I was also in contact with Canadian and U.S. customs to find out what paperwork was required. In addition I was informed by U.S. customs that I needed a customs broker.
"So I got one," he says, "and these people helped me fill out all the forms and told me to also make a bill of sale and include it. But finally the moose head was shipped."
And then Ken Procyk got another call.
Bob had been seized at the border.
He was now Buffalo Bob.
---
According to Section 48(1) of the provincial Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, a "person shall not buy or sell game wildlife or specially protected wildlife, including pelts, except under the authority of a licence and in accordance with the regulations."
In other words, Bob is a "pelt."
"But not once, not in all my dealings with customs, with the customs brokers, and not after filling out all those provincial fish and wildlife forms was I told that it was illegal to sell a moose head," says Procyk.
"It's not that we didn't love Bob any more; it's just that we ran out of room for him.
"I jumped through hoops for him," he says. "All I wanted to do was find him a good home.
"But ignorance of the law, they say, is no excuse. But why did no one in authority tell me it was against the law in Ontario to be doing what I was doing when I was dealing with them and answering all their questions?"
---
Ken Procyk is scheduled to appear in Newmarket court on Friday, facing a fine which ranges from the maximum for "commercialization" of between $25,000 and $100,000 -- right down to $250 if the court decides the infraction is minor, a one-off and perhaps unintended.
Bob, meanwhile, is no longer in Buffalo.
He is now in compound at the MNR offices in Aurora.
"They say it is likely I'll never see Bob again," Procyk said.
U.S. Customs, in the interim, has sent Procyk a bill for $560 U.S. -- the storage fee for Bob's time in custody.
Man fined for selling a moose head on eBay
By MARK BONOKOSKI
Two Ontario conservation officers -- complete with field kit of bulletproof vests and sidearms -- show up at Ken Procyk's Aurora home one day and pull out their ID.
Introductions and formalities over, one cuts to the chase.
"Are you trying to sell a moose head on eBay?" he asks.
"No," replies Procyk. "I've sold a moose head on eBay. Why? Is there some kind of problem?"
And so it began.
---
The moose head is called Bob. Bob Johnson, to be exact, and fondly named after a friend of Ken Procyk's father, Don, who happened to be a moose-sized man.
Bob -- the moose head, that is -- has been a part of the Procyk family for more than two decades.
It was back in 1985 that Don Procyk was given Bob as a gift. He was living in Calgary then, working for a company that built couplings for the oil industry, and one day a supplier hauled Bob into his office as a present -- it having been shot somewhere in Alberta, and its head kept as a trophy.
For the next year, Bob was a hat rack.
In 1986, when Don Procyk's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, it was decided there was no better gift for such a golden moment than Bob.
And that's when Bob moved to the St. Lawrence Seaway town of Cardinal and took up residence in a loft above the garage where Ken Procyk and his brother used to bunk up while visiting their grandparents.
TOWEL RACK
For that period of his post-mortal life, Bob had a great view of the ships entering the locks.
Following the death of Ken Procyk's grandparents, Bob found himself taking up a prominent spot at the end of the porch of the Procyk family's Lake Ontario cottage near Kingston -- on Nicholson's Point, to be exact.
For the next eight years, Bob was a towel rack, as well as a place to hang wet bathing suits.
By now, of course, he was a celebrity. No visitor to the Procyk cottage could leave without first having their picture taken with Bob.
"We must have a collection of over 60 pictures stored away somewhere," says Ken. "Bob became an icon."
Fast track. The cottage was sold, and Bob was moved to Don Procyk's home, where he spent the next six years in the basement, lovingly covered in blankets.
Then Don Procyk decides to move to Philadelphia on a business venture and Bob suddenly becomes the property of Ken Procyk, the 34-year-old Aurora man who answered his door one day and found two armed conservation officers standing on his doorstep.
"Are you trying to sell a moose head on eBay?" one asks.
"Why?" Procyk says. "Is there some kind of problem?"
---
By this time, Bob is in Buffalo, having arrived as freight in the back of an 18-wheeler, and supposedly destined for St. Louis, Mo., where he would find a new home adorning a wall in a place called the Big Bear Grill.
Ken Procyk has no place for Bob. His side of the garage was a workshop, and his wife's side of the garage was ... well, his wife's side of the garage.
"She didn't want Bob parked there if she couldn't," he said.
So Bob went up for sale on eBay.
Getting Bob packed in a crate is a story on its own, but it was the paperwork that took most of the time and energy.
"I had no idea all the problems," Procyk says. "I got in contact with Ontario Fish and Game twice to figure out what paperwork I needed to ship the moose head to the States and received instructions from them on what forms to print off their website and fill out.
"I was also in contact with Canadian and U.S. customs to find out what paperwork was required. In addition I was informed by U.S. customs that I needed a customs broker.
"So I got one," he says, "and these people helped me fill out all the forms and told me to also make a bill of sale and include it. But finally the moose head was shipped."
And then Ken Procyk got another call.
Bob had been seized at the border.
He was now Buffalo Bob.
---
According to Section 48(1) of the provincial Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, a "person shall not buy or sell game wildlife or specially protected wildlife, including pelts, except under the authority of a licence and in accordance with the regulations."
In other words, Bob is a "pelt."
"But not once, not in all my dealings with customs, with the customs brokers, and not after filling out all those provincial fish and wildlife forms was I told that it was illegal to sell a moose head," says Procyk.
"It's not that we didn't love Bob any more; it's just that we ran out of room for him.
"I jumped through hoops for him," he says. "All I wanted to do was find him a good home.
"But ignorance of the law, they say, is no excuse. But why did no one in authority tell me it was against the law in Ontario to be doing what I was doing when I was dealing with them and answering all their questions?"
---
Ken Procyk is scheduled to appear in Newmarket court on Friday, facing a fine which ranges from the maximum for "commercialization" of between $25,000 and $100,000 -- right down to $250 if the court decides the infraction is minor, a one-off and perhaps unintended.
Bob, meanwhile, is no longer in Buffalo.
He is now in compound at the MNR offices in Aurora.
"They say it is likely I'll never see Bob again," Procyk said.
U.S. Customs, in the interim, has sent Procyk a bill for $560 U.S. -- the storage fee for Bob's time in custody.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Yup, that's todays laws.
International transport of game parts, (hides, and heads included) is a big issue.
International transport of game parts, (hides, and heads included) is a big issue.
- Location
- St. Joe's Island, Ont
I like the fact that it's illegal to ship all our animal parts to the U.S. cause I think it causes alot of poaching for some southeners wall.
Now this goes beyond that, it's a crock of ####. Why didn't anybody tell him it was illegal? I know why! Cause the gov't employees they hire down there to do the paperwork and answer the phones are doing just that, and thats all, they're not trained correctly in their jobs and might as well have their heads up their asses. Bout as helpful as a case of hemeroids. Whens the last time you guys called a gov't office and got straight answers, it amazes me that this guy even got ahold of the correct papers without somebody knowing something or actually sending him the correct papers without screwing that up.
Rant mode off.
Now this goes beyond that, it's a crock of ####. Why didn't anybody tell him it was illegal? I know why! Cause the gov't employees they hire down there to do the paperwork and answer the phones are doing just that, and thats all, they're not trained correctly in their jobs and might as well have their heads up their asses. Bout as helpful as a case of hemeroids. Whens the last time you guys called a gov't office and got straight answers, it amazes me that this guy even got ahold of the correct papers without somebody knowing something or actually sending him the correct papers without screwing that up.
Rant mode off.
These laws were set in place to arrest illegal poachers from killing for specific parts. IE Bear guls etc. What the hell do trappers do they kill for fur and that is ok for me. Once an animal is mounted then it becomes taxidermy. The MNR should be using thier common sense on this one. I guess the guy should have charged for the taxidermy and donated the moose. I would be very interested in finding out what happen to him.
open-sights
Regular
- Location
- Aldergrove BC
If this was Israel, we would launch a pre-empted first strike mission to retrieve Bob. Where is the Jew moose mount protection unit when ya need em?
