SPCA: Hunter dumped bobcat corpse in Brewerytown lot

IN CASE you were wondering, it's not OK to dump wild-animal corpses onto vacant lots.

One New Yorker apparently learned that lesson the hard way yesterday after he threw the mutilated carcass of a bobcat he had killed onto a lot at 31st and Jefferson streets in Brewerytown.

Sarah Eremus, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania SPCA, said the man called the organization early yesterday after seeing news reports about the remains, which were discovered by a dog-walker Sunday afternoon.

"I think he is remorseful," Eremus said. "He didn't give a reason as to why he dumped the body, and we're trying to verify the story that he's told us."

The man, who told the PSPCA that he lives in New York state and is licensed to hunt bobcats there, shot the animal last month in the Catskills, Eremus said. He then severed the animal's paws and ears and skinned it "as part of his taxidermy," she said.

It's not clear when the man dumped the remains, which were found wrapped in bundles along with the tools he used to prepare them, or how long they sat in the lot before being found, Eremus said.

Until the PSPCA can confirm the man's story, he won't face any charges. If he really was the one who put the cat in the bag, illegal dumping carries varying fines depending on the nature of the offense, according to a spokesman from the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

"Right now, we're still in the process of verifying all of this," Eremus said. "We don't know for sure that it was him, and don't know for sure if the animal found is the one he's speaking about.

"He could be someone calling and making it up."

New York's bobcat season ran from Oct. 25 to Feb. 15, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

And the most common area to find those animals in New York? The Catskills.