A Blairsville man will have to pay a federal fine for lacing deer carcasses with poison in an attempt to bait and kill coyotes.
U.S. Attorney BJay Pak said Terry Foster, 54, was sentenced to pay $1,000 for violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
"Foster’s conduct threatened Georgia’s wildlife and environment for his own personal benefit," said Pak in a press statement. "But for the speedy response by federal and state law enforcement, Foster’s actions could have had much graver consequences."
According to court testimony, a private citizen contacted the Georgia Department of Natural Resources about a possible wildlife poisoning at some property in Cherokee County. DNR agents testified they found two deer carcasses that had been cut open and laced with a blue, granular substance. Several dead and dying animals were found near the carcasses, including two red-tailed hawks.
Foster was known to hunt on the property, so DNR obtained a search warrant for his truck. They said they seized several hunting knives, a bucket containing the blue poison, blood swaths and deer hair. A toxicology analysis confirmed the blue substance was the poison methomyl, which is a common fly bait.
Foster admitted to law enforcement he had been on the property in question, but he had only meant to kill coyotes.
"The defendant knowingly misused an acutely toxic pesticide to poison wildlife," said acting Special Agent in Charge Charles Carfagno of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division in Atlanta. "This case shows that EPA and its law enforcement partners are committed to enforcing pesticide laws to protect public health and the environment."
Pak said in the press statement that Foster pleaded guilty to the FIFRA violation on February 20, 2020, and was sentenced that same day.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigated this case.
