Kentucky and West Virginia conservation officers arrested six people, served summonses on two others and seized eight illegally possessed coyotes Friday after an investigation into a coyote and fox trafficking ring that has been underway for almost two years.
In all, the suspects face at least 831 counts of illegally buying, selling or possessing wild-caught foxes and coyotes, and in one case, cruelty to animals.
The 20-month undercover investigation, code named “Gyp-Sum”, looking into the illegal practice of buying, selling and holding wild-caught foxes and coyotes for the purpose of sale, came to a head as officers served warrants or summonses in five Kentucky counties and one out of state. Officers in Alabama, Virginia, Indiana, South Carolina and Florida contributed to the investigation.
Forest D. “Tony” Hall, 69, of Sitka in Johnson County, Elbridge Cook, 62, and Michael Ellis, 62, both of Corinth in Grant County, James Auxier, 41, of East Point in Johnson County, and Charles Creech, 73, of Beattyville in Lee County were arrested in Kentucky.
Officers serving a summons to George Hill, 57, of Waco in Madison County, arrested him instead when they found him to be illegally in possession of eight coyotes.
Thomas Hymer, 78, of Irvine in Estill County, and Clustena Hall, 70, of Sitka, were served summonses to appear in Madison District Court and Johnson District Court, respectively.
The out of state arrest warrant remained unserved and officers expect to complete that arrest this weekend.
Operation Gyp-Sum was triggered in July 2007 when Virginia officers notified Kentucky officers that Howard Blevins of Asheville, NC, a principal subject in a multi-state investigation of persons trafficking in wild foxes and coyotes was making frequent and routine stops at certain locations in Kentucky. Officers involved in that multi-state investigation provided Kentucky officers with GPS map coordinates of Blevins’ visits and phone numbers of persons he was contacting.
Kentucky officers were assisting in several other states’ investigations at that time, and in November 2007, Alabama Wildlife and Fisheries officers closed their own fox and coyote trafficking investigation with 18 arrests in three states, including Blevins for his involvement.
For the past 20 months, Kentucky undercover officers say they witnessed the illegal buying, selling and possession of live foxes and coyotes. They also witnessed Creech cutting the tails off live coyotes destined for use in chase pens.
“Officers in other states have heard of that practice, but this is the first time someone has actually demonstrated it to an officer,” said a Kentucky undercover officer who witnessed the mutilation. “The tail is the first thing the hounds grab, so cutting it off makes it harder for the dogs to catch the coyote and extends the chase.”
Creech is charged with seven counts of cruelty to animals, nine counts of illegally possessing wildlife without a permit, and seven counts of illegally buying wildlife. He was arrested and faces fines up to $15,000 and up to seven years in jail.
The trade in foxes and coyotes stems from the practice of turning packs of fox hounds loose inside fenced enclosures ranging in size up to several hundred acres to chase foxes or coyotes. The chases may begin about sundown and may continue through noon or so the next day.
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In other words…these people were caught for providing Mr. Blevins foxes for the purpose of fox hunting, a hobby that has a tradition with the older generation in the Southern and Eastern parts of the US but especially here in Appalachia.
It just goes to show how dumb the gov’t has become…it’s considered taboo to be a fox hunter but it’s an american right to be a coon hunter or to chase/capture any other animals with the use of hounds.