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On the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Facebook page there’s a photo that has some outrage.

It’s a picture of two deer, skinned and butchered with the heads still attached to the hides. The two deer were shot by poachers, which the Game Commission has charged, and some of the comments on Facebook question why the agency would run such a gruesome photo.

I think the reaction generated by the photo is exactly why the PGC posted it. While some people were outraged at what they perceived to be a gory photo, they shouldn’t be mad at the agency.

That anger should be directed poaching activity instead.

The photo is a grim reminder of just how brutal poaching can be. It can be sickening, shocking and unpleasant.

And it needs to stop.

That’s why the PGC instituted a new program – Operation Game Thief, that brings wildlife crimes to the public’s attention and gives them two avenues to report any poaching activity. People can call a toll-free number (1-888-PGC-8001) or fill out a reporting form online (pgc.state.pa.us), and so far many are taking advantage of the new program.

According to Tom Grohol, Director of the PGC’s Bureau of Wildlife Protection, people have reported more than 200 tips to Operation Game Thief since the program started three weeks ago. During each of the last two years, Grohol said, the agency received 500 to 600 tips under the previous reporting program.

October, November and December are the peak months for poaching activity so Operation Game Thief figures to be pretty busy for a while.

That’s good and bad.

It’s a shame that there’s so much poaching activity to report, but it’s good in that there’s an easy avenue for the public to let the PGC know what they’ve seen.

Unlike previous reporting programs utilized by the PGC, such a SPORT and TIP (Turn in a Poacher), Operation Game Thief maintains some of the elements that work and added improvements.

“The biggest advantage is the speed in which information goes from Harrisburg to the field officers to investigate,” Grohol said. “Before, it used to take days and now it goes right out and the instructions are clear so we’re getting accurate information.”

The program is also being promoted heavily on social media, and public awareness of poaching may be the key to making Operation Game Thief a success.

History shows that when the poaching incident or wildlife crime receives a lot of attention, the agency gets a lot of tips.

Grohol said the PGC received more than 1,000 tips each year for 2010 and 2011 and it could’ve been the result of two major developments that caught the public’s attention.

In 2010, Adams County Wildlife Conservation Officer David Grove was shot and killed while investigating a poaching incident. Also in 2010, the state legislature passed Act 54, which increased the fines and penalties for poaching.

After 2011, however, the tips the agency received slowed down and that’s why they decided to revamp the program with Operation Game Thief.

And there’s reason for optimism that the battle against poaching will start to gain more victories. The higher penalties are in place, jail time is a possibility in some cases and Operation Game Thief provides an easy means for the public to let the PGC know that a crime has been committed. Now, as long as the courts impose meaningful sentences against poachers, the word will get out that crimes against wildlife don’t pay.

And if it takes a photo of the remains of two illegally-killed deer to help the cause, so be it. We should all be shocked and outraged at such images, and we should be even more disgusted with the poaching activity that’s behind it.

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Venesky
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By Tom Venesky

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Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky