What would you do if a skunk moved in under your house? Apparently, according to his personal Web site, Sterling Heights, Michigan, resident Joseph Jozwick’s solution was to “catch the critter in the trap cover with blanky then drop [the animal] into the trough that is filled with water causing the critter to die a slow horrifying death.” Jozwick even saw fit to videotape this atrocity.
The Livonia office of Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the agency responsible for the protection of Michigan’s wildlife, said they “thought” drowning skunks was considered an acceptable practice “to keep the skunk from spraying when they die.” Sgt. Jackie Waber in the Lansing office said that the DNR does not condone drowning and that the allegations against Jozwick were under investigation. Waber said to call the Livonia office. However, the Livonia office will not provide any answers or return calls on the issue.
Please contact Alan Marble, chief of law enforcement for the Michigan DNR, and Lt. Linda Morgan from the DNR’s Livonia office, and demand answers in this skunk’s death. Remind Marble and Morgan that drowning any animal is an offense worthy of a thorough criminal investigation and the filing of appropriate charges.
Please be polite in your correspondence.
Chief Alan Marble
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Law Enforcement Division
530 W. Allegan
Mason Building, 4th Fl.
Lansing, MI 48933
517-373-6816 (fax)
Lt. Linda Morgan
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
38980 Seven Mile Rd.
Livonia, MI 48152
734-953-1540 (fax)
Ask the Governor to make sure the DNR does its job in this case:
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995---,00.html
Ask the Sterling Heights Police Department to investigate:
W. Barnett Jones
Chief of Police
City of Sterling Heights
40333 Dodge Park Rd.
Sterling Heights, MI 48313