A woman was shocked to find the remains of a hunted bear disposed on the side of the road on Saturday in Pitt Meadows.
“I never saw anything like that before so it was really traumatizing,” says Melissa Hafting, of Richmond. “It was horrific.”
The bear was discovered on the east end of Thompson Road, which is a farming area.
Conservation officer Jack Trudgian couldn’t speak to this specific case, but says bear and other wildlife carcasses are dumped more than people think – particularly during hunting season, which is currently underway.
“[Hunters] find the closest and the easiest place to dispose of [the remains] which a lot of times is on the side of the road, in parks and sometimes even dumping it on somebody else's property,” he told CTV News.
The bear may have been killed legally, he adds, but the way the hunter disposed of the carcass is a violation.
“It doesn't look good when people see this, and actually it could be a fine under the environmental management act for litter,” Trudgian says. “The best way is to dispose of all the parts in the area where you shot the game.”
Hafting says discovering the bear’s remains made her “very, very angry”. She believes the animal was illegally poached.
“The paws were missing so it seemed like it was for medicinal purposes,” she says.
Hafting contacted conservation officers, and wants hunters like the one who dumped this bear to start behaving more responsibly.
“It’s pretty disturbing,” she says. “It was just dumped there and everyone could see it...a child could have seen it."
Conservation officers are investigating the incident.
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Michele Brunoro
