Petition calls for tougher poaching fines, confiscation of gear in poaching cases

A Missouri woman has launched a petition drive that she hopes will spur state lawmakers to make it far more costly for poachers to kill animals in the state.

Sarah Cox, from the St Louis suburb of Maryland Heights, began the online petition a few months ago after reading a News-Leader story about a black bear that was killed illegally, and the man who did it faced only a $99.50 fine. She also was angered by the case of a Missouri elk that was shot and killed by a poacher who chainsawed the antlers from its head, leaving the rest of the animal to rot.

"I'm a hunter and grew up seeing all the wildlife Missouri has to offer," Cox said. "The lax punishment and penalties for poachers in Missouri needs to change. It's the right thing to do. We have such small penalties for such a large crime."

Compared with neighbors, Missouri poachers get off easy

Her online petition at change.org had more than 6,500 signatures as of Thursday. In a list of demands the petition urges state lawmakers to:

• Take the illegal harvesting of wildlife more seriously.
• Prosecute repeat offenders to the fullest extent of the law.
• Embrace felony charges for repeat offenders.
• Create a property-forfeiture law that would confiscate guns, knives, boats, vehicles and other gear a poacher used during the commission of the crime. Those items would be auctioned and proceeds distributed to public schools.

Her petition also endorses Rep. Linda Black's effort earlier this year that would require restitution payments from poachers who illegally killed deer, elk, black bears or turkeys. The Republican from Park Hills proposed a restitution fine of $750 for each wild turkey killed illegally, $1,500 for deer, and $3,500 for elk or black bear. 

Black's bill was never brought forward for a House vote. Rep Jay Houghton, a Martinsburg Republican and chairman of the House Agriculture Policy Committee where Black's bill was assigned, said there wasn't enough support from committee members to bring the bill up for consideration.

Term limits will end Black's tenure in the House at the end of December. It remains unclear if any other lawmakers plan to take up her bill after she leaves. 

Cox plans to share her petition with state lawmakers as a way to show how much support there is for changing Missouri's poaching laws. Change.org allows anyone to create an online petition, but doesn't verify names or addresses, as happens when someone tries to get an issue on an election ballot.