MOOSE JAW — A Mossbank-area taxidermist must pay nearly $8,000 in fines after improperly tagging and labelling animal parts, maintaining poor records and failing to have a licence to act in that role.
Brandon J. McCrea, owner of Northern Reflections Taxidermy, appeared in Moose Jaw Provincial Court recently and pleaded guilty to doing business as a taxidermist without a licence and possessing wildlife without a licence.
As part of a joint submission, McCrea must pay $250 and a $50 surcharge on the first offence and $5,000 and a $2,000 surcharge on the second offence, for a total of $7,300.
He must also forfeit the 144 items conservation officers seized from his property.
McCrea was acting as a taxidermist without a licence even though such a permit costs $25, while he failed to comply with provincial legislation requirements like acquiring the licence of people who brought him the animals, explained Suzanne Reid, the regional Crown prosecutor.
Furthermore, he failed to tag, label, or mark animal parts properly, did not maintain the required records of where he acquired the animal and from whom, or the special permit number that authorizes the possession of the wildlife and the species and quantity stored, she continued.
“The taxidermist is required to produce these records on the request of any wildlife officer,” Reid remarked.
Wildlife officers inspected Northern Reflections on Feb. 2, 2023, where they found a white-tailed deer skull and antlers improperly notched, she said. They documented the scene and told McCrea he had to catalogue tags properly before he accepted work from customers.
The business owner told officers that he had a taxidermy licence for 2022 but could not provide one for 2023, while officers were unable to locate McCrea’s licence for 2022 or 2021 in their system.
“Mr. McCrea’s taxidermy shop had such a high volume of animals and animal parts throughout the shop covering the floors, the walls and within the rafters that officers could not conduct a proper taxidermy inspection at that time,” said Reid.
The wildlife inspectors also told the businessman that he must keep his records updated since there was too much missing information.
On March 21, 2023, officers returned and again saw many animal parts not properly tagged, so they seized as many items as they could from the main shop while they found more untagged parts in another building, said Reid.
Moreover, they discovered more parts in other buildings and freezers, so they sealed those structures, she added. They then returned in April 2023 to collect the remaining material.
Defence lawyer Estes Fonkalsrud explained that McCrea’s area environmental office closed, so he was unable to purchase his taxidermy licence there. Regina was the closest centre, but he failed to drive there to pick up a licence.
“In previous years, he had his licence (but) it lapsed … ,” the lawyer continued. “After (officers) attended his property, he did go into Regina and get a licence (and) he currently has a valid licence to operate the business.”
Since the wildlife officers sealed his buildings and freezers, McCrea experienced financial hardship because he was unable to access them for work, which forced him to find a short-term job, Fonkaslrud said.
Meanwhile, he helped the conservation officers return some of the animal bodies and parts if the owners’ identities were attached, which showed that this situation wasn’t one of poaching, the lawyer added.
Judge David Chow then accepted the joint submission and said it was “absolutely appropriate” for what happened.
