Keremeos slaughter of big horn sheep

[Tony]

PENTICTON - Two drivers are facing multiple charges after killing five bighorn sheep in two separate collisions on Highway 3 west of Keremeos in October.

The collisions occurred on Oct. 1, 2015, around 4 p.m. when an eastbound Ford F250 pickup driven by a 56-year-old man and a Dodge Ram pickup driven by a 75-year-old man failed to stop for a herd of sheep crossing Highway 3 near Standing Rock, located approximately three kilometres west of Keremeos, South Okanagan Traffic Services Unit Commander Sgt. Harold Hallett said today, Wednesday, Dec. 16.

The crossing took place on a four lane section of the highway where the speed limit is 100 kilometres per hour.

Five sheep were killed and two injured. Some of the sheep were thrown into the westbound lanes. Neither vehicle stopped at the scene.

Both vehicles were located through a joint investigation by South Okanagan Traffic Services and the B.C. Conservation Office. Both vehicles were found in Keremeos, one at a residence and the other at a repair shop.

The two drivers have since been charged with failing to report an accidental killing of wildlife on a highway, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, and driving without consideration of others.

One of the drivers resides in Keremeos, the other on Vancouver Island.

How does this happen? These two should be thrown away for a very long time.

Also - how did Castanet miss this story?

[Fancy]

Castanet didn't miss it - it's where I learned about it.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#154260

The senseless killing of several bighorn sheep has landed two motorists in hot water.

RCMP Sgt. Harold Hallett says five bighorn sheep were killed in an incident on Highway 3, east of Standing Rock, near Keremeos.

While the incident occurred Oct. 1, Hallett said he wanted to get the information out after recent news of dwindling numbers within the bighorn population.

Hallett said westbound traffic had stopped to allow a herd of 12 bighorn to cross the four-lane section of highway.

"An eastbound Ford F-250 pickup operated by a 56-year-old male and a Dodge Ram pickup operated by a 75-year-old male failed to stop for the sheep, killing five and injuring two others," said Hallett.

Some of the sheep were thrown into the stopped westbound vehicles, damaging them. Neither eastbound vehicle stopped at the scene.

Hallett said both vehicles were eventually located, one at a residence in Keremeos and the other at a repair shop in Keremeos.

One man resides locally, the other on Vancouver Island.

Charges of failing to report accidental killing of wildlife on a highway, failing to remain at the scene of an accident and driving without consideration of others have been laid.

December 16th - 12:42

[Tony]

My bad. I didn't see that one. Thanks then, Castanet.

Still a horrible thing - these guys are old enough to know better.

[OREZ]

Such and absolutely appalling lack of responsibility shown by these two. I wouldn't even expect this from a 16 year-old driver but these two, at their age??? What, were they both drunk at the time? Is that why they left the scene?

Quite sickening, really.

[Bsuds]

Still a horrible thing - these guys are old enough to know better.

There is no age limit on stupidity!

[OREZ]

Evidently not.

[Brushy Bill]

failing to report an accidental killing of wildlife on a highway

Seriously ? That's an offense ? Not many drivers realize this.

[Fancy]

http://drivesmartbc.ca/collisions/colli ... al-what-do

The Ministry of the Environment advises that it is a legal requirement to notify them of the killing or wounding of most larger wildlife. The report may be made through the Conservation Officer Service's Report All Poachers and Polluters line at 1-877-952-7277.

http://www.icbc.com/road-safety/driving ... tions.aspx

[twobits]

Seriously ? That's an offense ? Not many drivers realize this.

That's what I thought when I read it too. In my million plus miles of travel on BC Hwy's over the last 40 yrs I have had 7 unfortunate incidents with wildlife. In one year alone, 3 of them. Of those, five have been damage enough to report to ICBC. And in not one of those ICBC claims have I ever been questioned as to if I reported the wildlife accident. It was just file the claim, show up with the damaged vehicle, and between the fur and flesh embedded in the grill, rad, and front end.....it was an automatic pass to the body shop. Is it then any wonder why people do not know of this requirement to report wildlife collisions?

Secondly, the news article as presented provides very little evidence to suggest the two drivers must have been alcohol riddled, incompetent seniors, or rig pigs with jacked up trucks lookin for trouble. Those are the jumps to conclusion I see so far here. We do not even know whether it was daylight or dark.
I too lament the loss of such a recognized and protected animal. But also having the experience of mileage on the road around the Interior, I also know that Big Horn Sheep are also one of the most stupid animals that God created when it came to recognizing danger if it didn't have claws, teeth, and growled. If you see them and slow down to even 20 km/hr, they will still walk right out in front of the vehicle. A deer at least has the smarts to go for the ditch as an escape route. As far as traffic stopped in the opposing lane....At 100km/hr that could easily be judged as a vehicle stopped to make a left hand turn off the hwy or even a stalled vehicle. Unless you see the actual animal hazard, why would many do anything other than back off the gas for a few moments?
I am not giving these guys an absolute pass on what happened or their decision not to stop, but some of you critics here are calling for the noose when you know squat about the circumstances. For all you know it was a dad rushing his kid to hospital and gramps right behind him.
Classic example of political correct mob mentality. Hope none of you critics ever get called for jury duty.

[Fancy]

Criticizing the critics when the bottom line is all about the drivers leaving injured and dead animals behind and not doing anything about it. And don't forget the fact that the impact of the sheep hitting and damaging other vehicles is also a factor.

[Tony]

Secondly, the news article as presented provides very little evidence to suggest the two drivers must have been alcohol riddled, incompetent seniors, or rig pigs with jacked up trucks lookin for trouble. Those are the jumps to conclusion I see so far here. We do not even know whether it was daylight or dark.
I too lament the loss of such a recognized and protected animal. But also having the experience of mileage on the road around the Interior, I also know that Big Horn Sheep are also one of the most stupid animals that God created when it came to recognizing danger if it didn't have claws, teeth, and growled. If you see them and slow down to even 20 km/hr, they will still walk right out in front of the vehicle. A deer at least has the smarts to go for the ditch as an escape route. As far as traffic stopped in the opposing lane....At 100km/hr that could easily be judged as a vehicle stopped to make a left hand turn off the hwy or even a stalled vehicle. Unless you see the actual animal hazard, why would many do anything other than back off the gas for a few moments?
I am not giving these guys an absolute pass on what happened or their decision not to stop, but some of you critics here are calling for the noose when you know squat about the circumstances. For all you know it was a dad rushing his kid to hospital and gramps right behind him.
Classic example of political correct mob mentality. Hope none of you critics ever get called for jury duty.

Sorry twobits....
I had a deer run into the side of my pickup on Hwy 8 one day. Literally ran across the road and hit the box of my truck. Never made a motion to stop, slow or hit the ditch. I to have driven thousands of kilometers on BC's highways, and have never seen a deer slow down or head to the ditch. They tend to get tunnel vision and go for the gold....

The thing is with these two is that traffic as stopped on the highway letting the herd pass and they passed people hitting the sheep. Since they sent sheep they hit into other vehicles damaging them, they were going faster than 20, which is still too fast if the wildlife is in a herd crossing the highway.

There was no Dad racing to get his kid to the hospital. They were two elderly gentlemen who did not know each other. They, flat out, where being jackasses, and should be heavily fined.

[twobits]

Sorry, but I think you are all being far too quick in judgment. It was 4pm dusk in Keremeos which means it was pretty much the cusp of dark. No one in their right mind would intentionally plow into a herd of sheep on the Hwy.
Should they have stopped? Ya, probably. But I can also fully appreciate the "oh not again moment" and carrying on. You also all presume they realized that other vehicles were damaged in their passing at 100 km/hr.
Y'all have have reacted too emotionally. It is a tragic event to be sure, but hardly worth a witch hunt and burning at the stake.

In the end, I doubt a judge could do little more than access a driving with undo care and attention citation.

[Tony]

I'll stand by my statement. If I see vehicles stopped on the highway I, too, stop. That isn't rocket science. If you want to go by them SLOWLY and see what's up, that's fine, but not at the posted speed. That's reckless endangerment in my books.

[Always Sunny]

Sorry, but I think you are all being far too quick in judgment. It was 4pm dusk in Keremeos which means it was pretty much the cusp of dark. No one in their right mind would intentionally plow into a herd of sheep on the Hwy.
Should they have stopped? Ya, probably. But I can also fully appreciate the "oh not again moment" and carrying on. You also all presume they realized that other vehicles were damaged in their passing at 100 km/hr.
Y'all have have reacted too emotionally. It is a tragic event to be sure, but hardly worth a witch hunt and burning at the stake.

In the end, I doubt a judge could do little more than access a driving with undo care and attention citation.

Intentionally plow into them? I'll agree with you there. I don't think anyone would make the effort to do that. But hitting a pack of them with enough force to kill 5 of them and considering they weigh between 75lbs and 300lbs each you'd know damn well you did some damage.

If a driver's vision is so seemingly impaired they neglected to see/avoid a herd of sheep on then highway, how would they know definitively they hadn't hit someone's pet or a person?? There was enough clarity moving at highway speed to recognize the only casualties were wildlife?

[driveangry]

In Keremeos and area we have many wildlife, tourists, new people to the area, and looky-loos are always stopping on the roads. Sheep, goats, deer, they even stop for groundhogs. Dead animals on the side of the road is a daily occurrence.

As I heard it, the 56 year old didn't see the sheep. The view was blocked by the dodge driven by the 75 year old until he was beside him when the dodge impacted the sheep sending them in front of his ford and the other two vehicles. Little to no damage to the ford. The dodge barely made it to a local mechanic shop.

It was a judgement call by the 56 year old at the time to proceed but realizes now that he should have stopped.

IMO, he should have stopped.