California man pleads guilty to wildlife violations

By SP Staff, TheStarPhoenix.com

Published: Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A California man has been fined $18,200 for two wildlife offences after pleading guilty in Saskatoon provincial court today.

Richard Haskins was arrested at the John. G. Diefenbaker International Airport on Dec. 13, 2007, while he was attempting to export a set of mule deer antlers and moose and deer meat from the province. The antlers were believed to have come from a deer killed in the Elrose area while Haskins was hunting illegally. The meat was being shipped without an export permit.

"People who kill animals illegally are stealing from the law-abiding hunters of our province," Kevin Callele, an executive director with the Ministry of Environment, stated in a news release. "Our laws are designed to provide effective management of wildlife populations to ensure hunting opportunities are available now and in the future for Saskatchewan residents and non-residents alike."


Last week, a Tillsonburg, Ont., man was slapped with a record $175,000 fine for illegal hunting in northern Saskatchewan. Jeffrey R. Wolfe was convicted in Meadow Lake provincial court of outfitting without a licence and hunting out of season.

Those charges stemmed from a three-month investigation in 2005, during which conservation officers determined Wolfe was taking American hunters north of Meadow Lake to hunt moose, bear, deer and elk.

Anyone who suspects environmental or resource abuses is encouraged to call the 24-hour Turn-In-Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-667-7561.

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2008

Told my tobacco country brother in law this story. Says he went to High school with Jeff Wolfe and that he was a dink even back then.
Grizz