Conservation officers have authority to kill wildlife: B.C. judge
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia court has dismissed a case in which a wildlife advocacy group accused the provincial government of not following its own law on the destruction of wildlife.
The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals filed a petition with the B.C. Supreme Court earlier this year challenging a conservation officer’s decision to kill a black bear cub near Dawson Creek in May 2016.
Lawyers for the group argued in court last month that the officer didn’t have the authority under the Wildlife Act to euthanize the cub after it was found on the roadside, apparently orphaned.
“The province says there are no legal limits on the ability of conservation officers to kill animals,” Arden Beddoes, a lawyer representing the Fur-Bearers, said at the time.