2 Farmers Sentenced for Causing Deaths of Bald Eagles, Owl
SALISBURY, Md.- Two farmers were convicted and sentenced to probation Friday for killing three bald eagles and one great horned out, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
Ernest J. Long, 70, of Camden-Wyoming, Del., and Angel Gomez, 36, of Goldsboro, Md., pleaded guilty today to violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act by causing the deaths the eagles and the ow.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Victor H. Laws III sentenced Long and Gomez each to one year of probation, and ordered them to pay fines and restitution of $8,000 and $3,000, respectively.
“Furadan is a poisonous insecticide intended to be used sparingly to kill bugs,” Rosenstein said. “The defendants used it instead to kill wildlife, and they succeeded in killing a number of animals, including three bald eagles and a great horned owl.”
According to their guilty pleas, Long owns and operates a farm at his home. Gomez operates a poultry farm at her home located approximately 10 miles from Long’s farm, raising chickens and exotic birds. In November 2006, Gomez discovered that her chickens were being killed by local wildlife. Court records show that she discussed the problem with Long, who gave her Furadan, an agricultural pesticide. According to their guilty pleas, Long instructed Gomez on how to place the pesticide on a chicken carcass, which the wildlife would eat and die soon thereafter. He advised Gomez to not touch the dead animals, and that the poison could cause a chain reaction of animals dying.
Rosenstein said Furadan may be applied only by or under the direct supervision of trained and certified applicators, and only in compliance with the labeling. Granular Furadan is permitted only in limited circumstances as an underground soil treatment; it is not licensed for controlling predators.
Court documents show that in December 2006, Gomez baited two chicken carcasses with the poison and placed one on the ground for the foxes and the other on top the chicken coup for hawks and owls.
As a result, three bald eagles and a great horned owl were found dead from Furadan in a Delaware field adjacent to Gomez’s farm. In addition, a dead fox and an injured bald eagle were also found in the same area. The animals had ingested the pesticide directly from the chicken carcasses, or by feeding on previously poisoned animals.
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