Scuba Diving club,
Southern California
Sea Sabres
Rat advocate cleared in fight with fedsThe
Associated Press
SANTA
BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - July 11,
2003 A federal
magistrate has cleared a bus driver who prosecutors said tried to thwart
government efforts to rid the Channel Islands of black rats.
Rob Puddicombe, 52, was
accused of scattering pellets containing vitamin K, an antidote for rat poison,
on Anacapa Island.
U.S. Magistrate Willard
McEwen Jr. said in a decision released Thursday that federal prosecutors failed
to prove during last month's trial that Puddicombe illegally fed the animals
and interfered with agency functions.
National Park Service
officials have been spreading rat poison across the island to eradicate the
nonnative black rats, which threaten several native species.
Puddicombe, who had faced
up to a year in jail, praised the decision.
"I only wish the
animals on Anacapa could have gotten the same fair trial I did," he said.
Channel
Islands National Park
News Release
Back to Safety &
Education
Posted July 23, 2003
The
Associated Press
SANTA
BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - July 11,
2003 A federal
magistrate has cleared a bus driver who prosecutors said tried to thwart
government efforts to rid the Channel Islands of black rats.
Rob Puddicombe, 52, was
accused of scattering pellets containing vitamin K, an antidote for rat poison,
on Anacapa Island.
U.S. Magistrate Willard
McEwen Jr. said in a decision released Thursday that federal prosecutors failed
to prove during last month's trial that Puddicombe illegally fed the animals
and interfered with agency functions.
National Park Service
officials have been spreading rat poison across the island to eradicate the
nonnative black rats, which threaten several native species.
Puddicombe, who had faced
up to a year in jail, praised the decision.
"I only wish the
animals on Anacapa could have gotten the same fair trial I did," he said.
Channel
Islands National Park
News Release
Back to Safety &
Education
Posted July 23, 2003