Colorado mountain lion & bobcat poaching case comes to a close
A long-running case to prosecute a group of outfitters in Colorado responsible for the illegal trapping, maiming, and killing of cougars and bobcats has this week come to a close. Nicholaus Rodgers, the last defendant to stand trial, was sentenced on Monday to 36 months of probation (including six months of home detention) after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act.
According to the publication Westword, “…the hunts were usually rigged to guarantee an easy kill. Rodgers, Loncarich, and others involved in the scheme would capture the big cats in advance in leg traps or cages, then hobble them in some fashion — usually by shooting them in the foot or the stomach. The maimed cats would then be released, to be picked off by the just-arrived clients during outings in the Book Cliff Mountains in western Colorado and eastern Utah.”
Full story: http://www.westword.com/news/nicholaus-rodgers-gets-probation-in-mountain-lion-poaching-case-6596624
