County Asks Deer Hunters To Clean Up After Themselves
Service Fees At Animal Shelter Go Up
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
rmoore@harrodsburgherald.com
Mercer County has a problem with improperly disposed deer carcasses, and they’re not talking roadkill.
Officials are taking aim at certain trophy hunters who collect the antlers and feet then leave the carcasses on the side of the road for someone else to clean up.
“This is a huge problem, especially this time of year,” said Mercer County Sheriff Ernie Kelty. “We don’t need this in our county.”
On Tuesday morning, Kelty told the Mercer County Fiscal Court that illegal dumping gives hunters a bad reputation.
“As a sheriff I don’t like it and as a hunter I don’t like it,” he said. “It gives us a bad name.”
Kelty said he and his officers would charge any hunters they found dumping carcasses illegally.
“If we catch somebody doing it, they will be cited with criminal littering,” the sheriff said. Criminal littering is a class A misdemeanor.
Magistrate Ronnie Sims said he was getting a lot of calls from the Dry Branch Road area, but said it was a county wide problem.
“It’s everywhere in Mercer County,” Sims said.
According to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, guts should be left in the field where scavengers will dispose of them or buried onsite with the landowner’s permission.
Leaving deer carcasses near a boat ramp, along the side of the road or dumping them off a bridge is illegal.
According to the state, hunters can also pay a deer processor to dispose of the carcass, but hunters will still need to dispose of the guts.
Fees at the Mercer County Animal Shelter are going up. As part of the state legislature’s tax reform, a 6-percent tax will be collected on car repairs and veterinary services—for small household pets like dogs or cats, but not large animals like horses or cows—as well pet care services including grooming and boarding, pet sitting and pet obedience training.
Starting on Jan. 1, 2019, the fee for cat adoption will be $64, for female dog adoption will be $128, for male dog adoption will be $106, to reclaim or to surrender an animal will be $16.
The next meeting of the Mercer County Fiscal Court will be on Thursday, Dec. 27, at 2 p.m.
To learn more, check out this week’s issue of the Harrodsburg Herald.
People dump on Dry Branch weekly. Not just deer carcass but furniture, mattress, etc. Lived in this road for 30 years. Never saw a Sheriff except when they are looking for a vote!! Sad but true. Welcome to Mercer Co!!