The B.C. man facing possible jail time for feeding dog food to more than two dozen bears at a marijuana grow-op is being accused of returning to his old habits.
Allan Piche pleaded guilty in March to feeding dangerous wildlife for doling out nosh to a troop of black bears at his property in Christina Lake. He was arrested in August 2010 when police discovered the tame animals apparently guarding a pot plantation.
Piche will be sentenced on that charge next month, and could be handed up to $100,000 in fines and a year in jail.
But there are new claims that his current legal troubles haven't deterred Piche from feeding the bears. Last week, Crown prosecutors accused another charge of feeding dangerous wildlife against him for offences allegedly committed this summer.
A second conviction could double the jail time and fines for the accused man. He is scheduled to appear in Grand Forks provincial court to face the new charge on Dec. 14.
Piche has never denied feeding the animals. He claims that he started out by feeding a single elderly bear about a decade ago, and the situation snowballed from there.
When police raided his property last year, the curious bears watched passively as officers removed 2,300 marijuana plants.
After the seizure, Piche agreed to begin feeding the bears on a reduced scheduled before they went into hibernation last year in an attempt to wean them from their dependence on dog food. He promised he would stop feeding them completely after they woke up in the spring.
By this September, conservation officers in Christina Lake said they had shot and killed at least 17 problem bears, and speculated that many of those were the animals fed by Piche.
Officials said the bears seem to have lost their fear of humans and were appearing on people's patios and doorsteps in search of food.
Piche and several others also face drug charges in connection with the grow-op. That trial will begin in February.
