Once again greed has raised it’s ugly head in the hunting industry.  We just heard about illegal activity with the Game Trails Lodge in Kentucky and now Michigan Trophy Hunts of Bannister Michigan is in trouble with the law.

     Michigan Trophy Hunts owner Janet Turner, 74, and her son who operates the facilities Scott Turner, 45, were arraigned in District Court this last Wednesday.  They are accused of a total of 54 charges ranging from cruelty to animals to illegally importing elk.

     This is especially disturbing with last the CWD case on the western side of Michigan last August in a private cervid facility that has basically changed the way we hunt deer in Michigan and the way we look at these facilities.  Since the case in Michigan’s Kent County last August all the private cervid farms were quarantined until they recieved approval from the Michigan DNR to resume operation.  This farm was under investigation before the August 2008 CWD case made the news.  Michigan made importation of elk into the state illegal in April of 2002 to stop the spread of CWD to the deer and elk herds of the state. 

Below is the press release from the Michigan DNR on the case:

Privately-Owned Cervid Facility Owner and Operator Arraigned on 54 Counts Including Animal Cruelty, Illegal Importation

The owner and operator of a privately-owned cervid facility in Saginaw County have been arraigned in Saginaw County 70th District Court on a 54-count warrant resulting from a year-long investigation into their game hunting facility located in Bannister.

Janet Turner, 74, the owner of Michigan Trophy Hunts, and her son Scott, 45, who operated the facility, were arraigned Wednesday before Judge Kyle Higgs Tarrant.  The Turners were released on a $97,000 personal recognizance bond.

The Turners are charged with 54 counts, including two felony counts of animal cruelty to animals/livestock and conspiracy to commit animal cruelty; and multiple misdemeanor counts of illegal importation of elk into Michigan, failure to maintain animal health records, enclosure violations, animal at large and health code violations.

In March 2008, the Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture launched a joint investigation into the facility after receiving complaints about illegal importation of elk and animal cruelty at the Turner facility.  The Law Enforcement Division of the DNR and MDA officials gathered evidence which resulted in a search warrant of the Turner facility to inventory their elk, deer and business records.

The investigation confirmed animals were allegedly smuggled into the state while Michigan’s borders were closed to any out-of-state importation of elk and deer.  The importation ban was placed on Michigan by the MDA in April 2002 as a result of western states contracting Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).  Records showed that the Turners had allegedly illegally imported elk from Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota and Canada.

If found guilty, the Turners could each possibly face four years in prison for each felony count of animal cruelty and conspiracy to commit such felonies; $15,000 in fines; up to 500 hours of community service or any combination of penalties.  The judge may also order psychiatric evaluations, and may order the cost of care, housing or veterinary care.  The judge also may order that the Turners not own or possess an animal.  The misdemeanor charges range from 30 to 90 days in jail and fines from $300 to $2,500

      The sad part of this mess is that this facility is that it is less than 20 miles from the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, which hosts some of the biggest deer and most sought after hunting tags in the state of Michigan.  I would hate to think what CWD would do to this wildlife treasure in our state.  As I stated in the previous article about Game Trails Lodge breaking game laws, it is all about greed and antler envy of the elitist in the hunting world.  It is this group of hunters that is beginning to give our outdoor heritage a black eye!