ASPEN, Colo.—The punishment for a Minnesota man who pleaded guilty to baiting and illegally killing a bear includes making a $500 donation to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which opposes hunting.
Craig Miller, 43, of Little Canada, Minn., pleaded guilty on Monday to three misdemeanor charges after killing the black bear on Sept. 1. His sentence included probation, loss of hunting privileges and more than $5,000 in fines.
The PETA donation “wasn’t what I was expecting,” said Miller’s defense attorney, John Van Ness. “I don’t know where that came from, the PETA business. I know they are opposed to fur coats.”
Miller said he would make the contribution as ordered but declined to say whether he thought PETA would use the money well.
Randy Hampton, a spokesman for the state Division of Wildlife, suggested the money could have been better used locally for buying bear-proof garbage containers to discourage the animals from foraging in town, or to support a private wildlife rehabilitation center in Colorado.
He said the agency wasn’t consulted beforehand.
PETA spokeswoman Daphna Nachminovitch said this is not the first time someone has been ordered to give money to the group in a criminal case, but it’s not common.
“It’s a gesture on the part of the judge to say this bear mattered and that a donation should be made in his memory,” she said. “Five-hundred dollars isn’t going to make up for the suffering this bear endured.”
The sentence was handed down by retired District Judge Chuck Buss, who was filling in for the vacationing Judge James Boyd.
On its Web site, PETA calls sport hunting “cruel and unnecessary.”
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Information from: The Aspen Times,
