COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — An
Idaho woman faces charges after authorities say she beat a hunter's
falcon to death with a beaded scarf after seeing the bird of prey take
down a duck.
Patti
MacDonald, 60, of Hauser, was charged with a misdemeanor count of
beating or harassing an animal, the Coeur d'Alene Press reported
(http://bit.ly/1EVs0LB ).
Authorities
say MacDonald fractured the skull of the 8-year-old falcon named Hornet
on Jan. 7. The duck also died and was being stored as evidence, Idaho
Fish and Game said.
Hornet's owner, Scott Dinger, said MacDonald should be charged with killing a protected species.
He
said he was about 500 yards away when Hornet made a successful attack
and landed with the duck. He said he was approaching the spot then he
saw a red Jeep Wrangler pull up to the side of the road, and Hornet flew
away but appeared injured.
Dinger said the woman told him she beat the bird, which had been with humans since the day it was hatched.
"So
they don't really know they are falcons," Dinger said. "That was
probably a part of his undoing, because you could walk up to him and he
wouldn't fly or try to get away."
Craig
Walker, a regional conservation officer for Idaho Fish and Game, said
he later received an anonymous call from a woman saying she tried to
save a duck from a falcon. The phone system identified the caller as
MacDonald.
Walker wrote in his report that
the woman stated "that she had been very upset about the duck being
injured, but felt bad about injuring someone's pet."
Kootenai
County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said he reviewed Walker's report and
determined the misdemeanor charge was appropriate. Beating or harassing
an animal is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to
$5,000 for a first-time offender.
No phone listing could be listed for MacDonald to try to reach her for comment Monday.
Dinger
said it was tough to accept what happened because his bird was 8 years
old, and falcons can live for about 30 years when they're with humans.
"I had planned for Hornet to live longer than me," Dinger said.
___
Information from: Coeur d'Alene Press, http://www.cdapress.com
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