Dozens of large black hogs have been a perpetual menace in Southwestern Wisconsin for several years, where they run wild, damaging property, uprooting trees and forcing people to stay indoors. These hogs are not native to the region and state investigators say they know who is responsible for bringing them to Wisconsin and they want him to pay. Former Gays Mills Elk Farm owner Robert S. Johnson has been identified as the culprit by the investigators who claim he brought 31 hogs from Texas to Wisconsin in 2002 and let them loose near the Kickapoo River in Crawford County.
Charged in February with illegally stocking wild animals, a civil infraction, Johnson’s trial began on September 5 and has since been delayed. Proceedings are set to resume this week.
The state Department of Justice, which is handling the case, wants Johnson to pay at least $31,000 in forfeitures, which works out to $1,000 for each pig, as well as money to cover environmental damages.
Pic courtesy Carl Von Canon on flickr.com
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