Animal Activist Fined- (10/29/04)

A New Jersey animal rights activist has been ordered to pay over $1,000 in fines after trespassing to protest the removal of a nuisance black bear.

According to a report by the Associated Press, activist Angi Metler staged her demonstration in August after Leonard and Priscilla Smith had asked the Division of Fish and Wildlife to help them get rid of a nuisance black bear.  The couple claims the bear had once even clawed its way into the screened porch at their summer cottage in Vernon Township.

Wildlife officers set a trap and did catch a nuisance creature, but it was not the bruin.  It was Metler, who had shackled herself inside the bear trap in protest.

Metler spent about an hour chained inside the trap while arguing with the Smiths.  The couple eventually called the police, who unchained her and placed her under arrest.

On October 26, Municipal Court Judge Walter Koprowski ordered the activist to pay a $1,068 fine for trespassing and obstruction.  The judge cleared her of charges of criminal mischief and hindering the lawful taking of wildlife.

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