Erin Alberty
Jan 21, 2009
SOURCE: The Salt Lake Tribune
SOUTH SALT LAKE - After 90 minutes of testimony on a roving skunk, prosecutors dropped charges against a South Salt Lake man accused of taking a city-owned animal trap for his own use.
The trial of Ryan Turner ended abruptly Thursday night when South Salt Lake city attorney Paul Roberts called off the case, saying he believed Turner took the occupied skunk trap from city property this summer out of concern for the skunk's suffering.
"I don't see any crime in helping an animal," Roberts said after Turner testified that the skunk had been left in a trap on city land near his yard for two nights and was in direct sun with no food or water. He had been charged with misdemeanor wrongful appropriation.
A city employee said he placed the trap on a Friday night in August near the fence along Turner's yard in response to Turner's complaints that the skunk had discovered the cat door to his home. Twice Turner found the skunk inside, he said, fighting with the cat, spraying the bedroom and rummaging through the kitchen.
The city worker said he did not check the trap because he did not expect it to succeed right away.
"My experience with trapping animals is that you don't get them the first day," public works employee Robert Bean testified.
Turner said the heat was intense and he decided to hoist the trap over the fence to care for the skunk until city workers returned for it.
"I thought if someone was looking for the trap, the would come to my door," Turner said.
Roberts said investigators were suspicious Turner had taken the trap before the skunk was caught. Turner's girlfriend had contacted city animal services to deal with the skunk earlier that week and balked at the $50 deposit for the trap.
"We thought he tried to take it for his own use," Roberts said.
Turner said he was relieved.
"It was baffling to me that things moved so far," Turner said.
Turner's attorney, Susanne Gustin, said the charges should have been dropped long ago.
"We just wish we didn't have to go through a 90-minute trial," she said.
Gene Baierschmidt, of the Utah Humane Society noted that in Brigham City and Ogden, it is illegal to leave an animal trapped for more than 24 hours.
"[Turner] is a hero," Baierschmidt said. "He made the morally right choice."
