Animal-rights group wants fundraising for grizzly's killers shut down

Fundraising bear-killing fine

Photo: GoFundMe

Kody Bevan and Seneca Antony pleaded guilty and were fined a combined $6,000 Thursday in ­Powell River provincial court for failing to promptly report the ­wounding or killing of a grizzly bear, a violation of the Wildlife Act. They’re asking for $8,000 through the online fundraiser. 

A B.C. animal rights group is asking an online fundraising platform to remove a request for donations by two Texada Island residents fined for not reporting the killing of a grizzly bear.

The Fur-Bearers says the GoFundMe page set up by Kody Bevan and Seneca Antony ­misleads potential donors.

Bevan and Antony pleaded guilty and were fined a combined $6,000 Thursday in ­Powell River provincial court for failing to promptly report the ­wounding or killing of a grizzly bear, a ­violation of the Wildlife Act.

The judge ordered that $4,000 of the fines go to the ­Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

The GoFundMe post by Bevan and Antony appeared on Friday, asking for $8,000. By Sunday morning, they had reached their $8,000 goal thanks to donations from 89 people.

The four-year-old tagged ­grizzly, nicknamed Tex by locals, was shot and killed in July, about two months after swimming to Texada Island from the Sunshine Coast, where it had been ­relocated twice before.

The bear’s presence on the small island with about 1,200 residents caused concern for the safety of both people and­ ­livestock, after it reportedly stalked people and harassed livestock in the weeks before it was killed.

Lesley Fox, executive director of the Fur-Bearers, said the GoFundMe platform would help the pair to “profit off their conviction.”

“It is highly unethical, and I would also say distasteful, to elicit funds to support a conviction, especially when you’ve pled guilty,” said Fox. “It’s highly concerning.”

Fox told GoFundMe in an email shared with the Times Colonist that Bevan and Antony’s account of shooting the bear contains misleading information and unverifiable facts.

She urged GoFundMe to remove the post and return the funds to the donors.

In the post, Bevan said Antony shot the grizzly using a shotgun and slug ammunition after the bear chased them and was within 10 feet of one of their dairy cows.

The wounded bear got away but was found by the pair about 45 minutes later, when Bevan shot and killed the animal.

Fox said the pair wrote that authorities are “punishing us for defending our lives and property.”

But Fox said the two were fined and convicted for failure to report killing a grizzly bear, not for defending their lives and property.

In their own account on GoFundMe, the pair indicate that they waited for conservation officers to come to them two days after the killing.

The fundraiser alleges that the bear’s “rap sheet” and ­unusual aggressive behaviour were a concern, saying the B.C. Conservation Officer Service told Bevan and Antony “horror stories about wounded grizzlies and how it never ended well.”

But Fox said the public has no way to discern what the conversation was between government officials and the individuals, and that the claims could also potentially mislead people into donating.

GoFundMe said in an ­automated response to the Fur-Bearers request that its trust and safety team will be “investigating the fundraiser and taking appropriate action.”