Seized trophies should be claimed ASAP

[grayghost]

Posted Feb 24, 2:52 PM
From the Hunting Report

Taxidermist Clifford Hales Arrested Seized Trophies Need To Be Claimed

(posted February 21, 2008)

Hunters who have left trophies with Wisconsin Taxidermist Clifford Hales need to know that Hales was arrested earlier this week and jailed overnight on charges of felony theft stemming from work he did for a prominent member of the hunting community. Seems Hales was instructed to mount two life-size rhino trophies but allegedly delivered only fiberglass replicas. The whereabouts of the rhino skin left with Hales is unknown.

We have all this from Joseph Fath of the Vilas County Sheriffs Department in Eagle River, Wisconsin, who tells us a large number of trophies were seized at Hales' home when they arrested him. Some of the seized trophies were in a finished condition; others were unprocessed and stored in a cooler. Anyone who left trophies with Hales should get in touch with officers Dave Dobbs or Patrick Schmidt in the Sheriffs Department at: 800-472-7290.

We were told the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources currently has the refrigerated trophies; the others are at the Sheriffs Department Headquarters in Eagle River. Fath said anyone who can prove ownership of the seized trophies will be free to take possession of them as soon as an investigation into this case has been completed.

Here at The Hunting Report we would appreciate knowing who the seized trophies belong to and whether they were recovered in good condition. Apparently, a significant number of the seized trophies are expensive international trophies, some requiring CITES permits. - Don Causey.


Seloushunter