A person shoots a mammal and brings it to the DEC,does the paper work and gets it tagged so it's legal to bring to a taxidermist.I accept
the mammal when i see it's properly tagged. 5 hours later the DEC state
police ( game warden ) calls me,after charging the person with taking
a mammal in an illegal zone,as stated on the paper work.They told me i
did nothing wrong but they to pick the mammal up, and would do so in 2 or 3 days.I said ok,come and get it.That was Dec 2nd 2004.Can i charge
them freezer storage? The mammal is still here.
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Are you charging the customer freezer storage? Just continue the transaction as normal, unless the customer has been told hes forfeiting the speciman. The state didnt hire you. And as with any legal question, I ALWAYS strongly suggest you contact authorities, not us guys. Just to be sure. Good luck.
No i am not charging the customer freezer storage and yes the customer had no choice but to forfeit the speciman and no the state did'nt hire me. But what gives the state the right to put the burden on me for this lenght of time? I don't know anything about the law, but by comitting to pick the speciman up in 2 or 3 days,they the state would be resonsible after that time i would think.And yes i am going to contack the authorities.But it don't hurt to talk about it with you guy's. Thank you for taking the time to read & reply.
I hope you didnt think I was dinking with you, or anything...Im just trying to get a feel for what you had going. I always suggest the legal thing, but Im not saying dont ask here. Just be sooo careful, thats all. Yes, I too would call them and ask where they are, and what financial arrangements they wanna make with you. Good luck.
Sorry,but you don't get anything from the state.If you inadvertantly buy stolen property,they confiscate it and you get nothing.If you get stuck with a counterfit $100.00 bill,they confiscate that and you get nothing.If all you are out is some freezer storage,thank your lucky stars.If you had mounted the deer and they discovered the problem before your customer paid you for it-guess what?!
Stephan,
No, the state is not liable. Your customer is. A word of advice: Don't get too pushy with the "state." If you have a real legal case that is a different thing. Then a lawyer gets involved. NO SENSE in being number one on their radar! Think about it.....regardless of how squeeky clean you may be, there is not enough justification in going head to head over a little pocket change.
Also, after ninety days,you can consider the specimen to be abandoned if it is not picked up by authorties.....However, since they made contact with you, there is a record and if you don't play the game with them, YOU could be charged with obstruction and what ever else those pencil pushers can think up.........
Yeah, you get nothing from the state. BUT, also you are not an agent of law enforcement and are not required to except an unreasonable burden. If they told you they would pick it up, they should have been there by now. I'd call them, or better yet send them a registered letter telling them that I need them to oblige and come get the head. I'd explain that I am being burdened with the thing taking up space. I'd tell them that I'd be dumping the head by such and such a date if they didn't come to get it. To me that's being cooperative enough, but putting them on notice that you too have expectations of THEM just as they do of YOU! And if they dare try to screw with you if you "dump" the cape, they too would have to answer up as to why they didn't come to get it. I had an incident where I caught these guys poaching near a scenic lookout with a rifle in an archery area. I seized their game myself and took it home and called the game dept. I called and called and everytime they would say that they would try and find someone to come out. This went on from 2:00pm to 8:30pm. Finally I said that I was going to throw the critter away if they weren't at my home in 15 minutes. Well that got them there real fast. What was the hold up? Dunno! But I had to really squeek my wheel to get service.
What the hell is a little time in the freezer got to do with it? Your best bet is to maintain a good relationship with the DNR folks, the DEC, the DAR, LSMFT and AARP, or whatever. I would call them, and ask that they come and get the dang thing, because you need the space, but I wouldn't rock the boat....er freezer. Besides you may have a Health inspection if you start charging for freezer space. Not likely, but possible under many State laws.
Your customer did wrong, and you are in the middle, but staying on the good side of the DEC is probably just good common sense.
You have a very good point,i never thought about it that way.
I will call the DEC and be nice about it, but make my point.
I would like to thank each of you for your thoughts and replies you all make good sense,and i value your opinions.