Information about what was first thought to be 11 skinned puppies that were found Friday in Quarry Park continues to trickle down from official sources.
DNA samples taken from what are now presumed to be young foxes have been sent out to be analyzed, said Christine Wiggins, Lehigh County Humane Officer.
It will take weeks for the results to be returned. Only then will the animals' species be confirmed.
Somebody used a shotgun to kill one of the foxes, Wiggins said, and the others look to have been trapped.
Since they are thought to have been wild animals, the case has been turned over to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, she said.
PGC Officer Kevin Halbfoerster said he is still collecting information on the case. He has the Humane Society's information but is still waiting to hear from state police at Fogelsville because they have details from the scene.
If the foxes were taken legally -- that is, if the person who killed them had a license, since they are in season -- there is no penalty for killing or skinning them. And the price of fox pelts has gone up, he said.
If they were taken illegally -- and the person is found -- there will be consequences, he said, and in either case there will be a "dumping fee" for the animals' inappropriate disposal.
Even the evil mousetraps are more huimane!!
1. PA - Fur - Dog and Cat Product Act PA ST 73 P.S. § 210-1 - 6 This set of laws represents the Dog and Cat Product Act. The act provides that no person shall sell or offer for sale, wholesale or retail, the fur, skin or hair of a dog or cat or any product or part of a product containing the fur, skin or hair of a dog or cat. Violation of the act commits a misdemeanor of the third degree. Subsequent offenses committed within five years of a prior conviction for the same offense constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree. 2. PA - Furtaking - Subchapter D. Furtaking Regulations 34 Pa.C.S.A. § 2361 - 2364 These Pennsylvania statutes make it unlawful to take, kill, wound, capture or possess any furbearers except during open season and without a permit. It is also illegal to set traps closer than five feet from a den, use a pole trap, deadfall, poison, explosive, chemical, leg-hold trap with teeth on the jaws, to smoke out or dig out any den, to set or place a cage or box trap in the water, or use any trap unless tended every 36 hours and all animals are released or removed. A violation relating to bobcat or otter is a summary offense of the fourth degree; other violations are a summary offense of the fifth degree.
Again, hunting/trapping are legal activities that are necessary to control the population of these animals. Otherwise, they will overpopulate (they have in this area, and have decimated the wild turkey and small game populations) and will either starve or start attacking pets, children, etc. after they eliminate their natural food sources, or become diseased, or both.
Hunting them for pelts is for a bunch of low income mouth breathers.... to feed furs to a bunch of fat rich people. Both are useless to society.