{"id":8727,"date":"2019-03-01T11:01:02","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T19:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/?p=8727"},"modified":"2019-03-12T11:02:01","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T19:02:01","slug":"activist-jailed-for-15-days-for-freeing-bear-cub-from-trap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/2019\/03\/01\/activist-jailed-for-15-days-for-freeing-bear-cub-from-trap\/","title":{"rendered":"Activist Jailed for 15 Days for Freeing Bear Cub from Trap"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Animal rights activist, 50, who freed a crying bear cub from a trap is JAILED for 15 days but plans to appeal because she made a &#8216;moral decision&#8217; so &#8216;he could run back to his mother&#8217;<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Catherine McCartney, 50, plans to appeal the sentence that was handed down to her on Tuesday by Municipal Court Judge James Devine\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>The Vernon, New Jersey, woman was sentenced to 15 days in jail\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>McCartney was arrested at bear hunt protests in 2016, 2017 and 2018 &#8211; which is why she was given the time in jail<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>McCartney and 43-year-old Mark Nagelhout were both given three summons in October\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>They had helped a bear cub escape a culvert trap at the Great Gorge Village condominium complex<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Both McCartney and the Park Ridge resident pleaded guilty to obstructing the administration of law and prevention of lawful taking of wildlife.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By\u00a0<a class=\"author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/home\/search.html?s=&amp;authornamef=Dailymail.com+Reporter\" rel=\"nofollow\">DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"articleIconLinksContainer\" data-preferred-shared-network-enabled=\"\">\n<p class=\"count-text\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-62a3f00fd2cce528\" class=\"blkBorder img-share b-loaded\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2019\/03\/01\/05\/10441246-6759243-image-a-93_1551416954705.jpg\" alt=\"Catherine McCartney, 50, plans to appeal the sentence that was handed down to her on Tuesday by Municipal Court Judge James Devine\" width=\"306\" height=\"306\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"mol-img-group floatRHS\">\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Catherine McCartney, 50, plans to appeal the sentence that was handed down to her on Tuesday by Municipal Court Judge James Devine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">An animal rights activist who admitted to freeing a bear cub from a New Jersey trap has been sentenced to 15 days in jail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Catherine McCartney, 50, stands by her actions and plans to appeal the sentence handed down to her on Tuesday by Municipal Court Judge James Devine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><a href=\"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8729\" src=\"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt2-300x153.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt2-300x153.jpg 300w, https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt2.jpg 634w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>&#8216;These animals are innocent and so I made the moral decision to let the bear go so he could run back to his mother, and it was the right thing to do,&#8217; the Vernon resident said in a statement obtained by\u00a0<a class=\"class\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nj.com\/sussex-county\/2019\/02\/she-freed-a-crying-bear-caught-in-a-trap-meant-for-momma-bear-now-shes-been-sentenced-to-jail.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NJ.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Because of previous convictions &#8211; McCartney was arrested at bear hunt protests in 2016, 2017 and 2018 &#8211; she was given the time behind bars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Last fall, the woman was sentenced to 15 days but was allowed enrollment in the\u00a0Sheriff&#8217;s Labor Assistance Program (SLAP) program by the same judge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">McCartney and 43-year-old Mark Nagelhout were both given three summons in October after they helped a bear cub escape a culvert trap at the Great Gorge Village condominium complex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><a href=\"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8728\" src=\"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt1-100x75.jpg 100w, https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/2019_bearhunt1.jpg 634w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Two culvert traps had been placed inside the condominium by the New Jersey DEP after two residents claimed that a bear charged at them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">DEP spokesman Larry Hajna admitted that the bear that was caught in the trap is a lot younger than the one believed to have been in the earlier incidents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Activists in the community have dubbed the mischievous bear &#8216;Momma Bear.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Both McCartney and the Park Ridge resident pleaded guilty to obstructing the administration of law and prevention of lawful taking of wildlife.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">While in court, McCartney asserted that the dumpsters at the condominium were not bear-proof. She claimed that caused the bears to come in close proximity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Nagelhout did not receive any jail time as it was his first offense, but both of them were hit with a $1,316 fine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;We believe the penalties are extremely high and will be appealing,&#8217; said Doris Lin, an attorney with anti-hunt Bear Group. She represented both clients. &#8216;This bear cub was crying, and I think a lot of compassionate people would have done the same thing.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Culvert bear traps tend to be about three feet in diameter and are triggered when an animal pulls on a bait bag. A door then closes behind the animal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Animal rights activist, 50, who freed a crying bear cub from a trap is JAILED for 15 days but plans to appeal because she made a &#8216;moral decision&#8217; so &#8216;he could run back to his mother&#8217; Catherine McCartney, 50, plans to appeal the sentence that was handed down to her on Tuesday by Municipal Court &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/2019\/03\/01\/activist-jailed-for-15-days-for-freeing-bear-cub-from-trap\/\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8731,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727\/revisions\/8731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}