“If the law supposes that…, the law is a ass…”- Dickens

When it comes to squandering precious tax dollars in pursuit of the inane, nothing surprises me. The egocentricity of The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife(DFW) has infested their better judgment, resulting in a phenomenon I call the “caged Machiavelli” - when government officials, politicians or those with sway over the public’s wallet lock themselves into a position that they feel there is no retreat from.

It usually happens over something inconsequential but tends to - shall we say - snowball into something much bigger than anticipated, such as it did in Mollala, Oregon. Rather than concede an inch, these petty little dictators end up dragging good people through the mud, wasting tax dollars and breeding public resentment; embarking on a scorched-earth campaign just to show who’s in charge.

No good deed goes unpunished…

Six years ago, Jim Filipetti was driving his children to the school bus when he saw a white fawn with brown spots lying on the roadside. She was weak and had severely deformed rear legs and hooves. Filipetti brought her to a vet who put her legs in casts. He brought her back every 10 days to change the casts and eventually nursed her back to health. Snowball eventually mated with a blind buck that Filipetti kept before it died and had a son named Bucky. And that’s where the law becomes a ass.

An anonymous tipster alerted the authorities that Filipetti was keeping deer on his property, and the deer were seized pending an investigation. During that time, DFW made public statements that they were only concerned with the best interests of the deer and that certainly didn’t preclude them from returning them to Filipetti if they were healthy. But it turns out the authorities were just stalling.

Shortly thereafter, DFW publicized that Bucky -born in captivity- had been released into the wild, a likely death sentence. They also refused to return Snowball. Filipetti hired attorney Geordie Duckler who eventually convinced a judge to order DFW to return the deer to Filipetti. Rather than comply, with the help of State Attorney General Hardy Meyers, DFW is not only appealing the judge’s decision, they refuse to return the deer. They argue they should keep possession of the deer until the appeals are exhausted, while the judge basically says put up or shut up. The state hasn’t charged Filipetti, so the judge ruled that the state must return the seized deer. DFW is facing possible contempt charges as a result of their refusal to comply.

The principles of this case are very simple.

The director of DFW, Roy Elicker, admitted that Snowball was born with such severe deformities, she would have never survived in the wild. He further admitted that Filipetti had provided excellent care and a good home to the animal. Filipetti spent thousands of dollars of his own money rehabilitating Snowball. He was not charged with any crime for keeping her, yet DFW still dangles that prospect over his head as their trump card. It is illegal to keep wild animals. There are exceptions, and in rare cases, permits are granted. This appears to be an extraordinary circumstance, yet DFW is denying Filipetti a permit.

DFW has been stalling since the beginning. First they said they were awaiting lab tests. Then they were trying to work out an agreement. Then they ignored a judge’s order to return Snowball to Filipetti citing an appeal. In the process, they have frittered away Oregon tax dollars on DFW, DOJ and state police manpower. They have conducted veterinary exams, lab work and DNA testing. Even the veterinarian that treated Snowball was threatened with charges if he operated without a state rehab permit, which he did possess. And now they refuse to return the animal as ordered while they drag the case out with an appeal. For one single deer that admittedly would have never survived on it’s own.

The state of Oregon has yet to disclose how much they’ve spent “upholding the law” in this case.

Filipetti can make roadkill out of Snowball. He can legally shoot Oregon’s deer, chop them into steaks and put them in his freezer, yet he can’t save the defenseless ones from certain doom without running afoul of Oregon’s DFW. The state is correct that Filipetti should have contacted them. But this type of heavy-handed response simply makes Roy Elicker, Christie Scott, Larry Cooper and their goon squad look like a bunch of Nazis. They could just negotiate a settlement to ensure Snowball’s continued care and be the good guys, but with taxpayer-funded attorneys at the ready, the chances of that are about the same as a snowball’s chance in hell.

Technorati Tags: Jim Filipetti, Oregon DFW, Snowball