 URL maine sunday telegram portland maine sunday december NUMBER NUMBER driver who hit moose fights county over meat by giselle goodman portland press herald writer via URL acton in her freezer at home lisa pierce has ground beef and roasts frozen vegetables and french fries even a couple of popsicles what she doesn t have is the meat of the moose she hit and killed with her car on nov NUMBER the moose that was rightfully hers but instead went to a neighbor the lack of it has her embroiled in a fight with the york county sheriff s department to get back what she says she is owed i think the deputy thought he was doing me a favor said pierce i m a woman and he just neglected to think that i would want it the moose is gone i know that now i want to be compensated for the meat whether or not that happens is uncertain her experience though highlights a law some mainers may not be aware of but should get to know during this peak time of deer versus car accidents as the animals in their mating season come out of the woods the law is simple a big game carcass caught by a car be it a moose deer or bear goes to the person who hits it as long as a law enforcement officer is called to the scene and the vehicle is damaged in the accident it comes up quite often in maine say officials last year there were NUMBER NUMBER cases of vehicles and deer colliding on maine roads and NUMBER accidents involving moose according to mark latti spokesman for the maine warden service in a state of what NUMBER NUMBER million with only NUMBER NUMBER licensed hunters i don t know how many motor vehicle drivers would know how to dress out a moose said latti you do have the option of keeping it which for some people can be valuable compensation for a damaged car farm grown deer meat can retail for NUMBER to NUMBER per pound in stores and a butchered or dressed moose which can t be bought or sold anywhere in maine can produce hundreds of pounds of food latti said when it comes to moose the law has been abused since its inception in NUMBER every now and then an officer will issue a summons to a driver for intentionally killing a moose with a car that kind of hunting makes no sense to latti hitting a moose even at a slow speed is no laughing matter large adult moose can weigh up to NUMBER NUMBER pounds and can be more than NUMBER feet tall since the bulk of their weight is above the hood level of most cars their bodies often come crashing through windshields in collisions more often than not crashes like these damage the vehicle the people inside and the animal sometimes they are fatal in NUMBER latti said there were six moose related fatalities after that when the number of moose hunting permits went from NUMBER NUMBER to NUMBER NUMBER there were less maine had three moose related fatalities in NUMBER one in NUMBER and two this year so far said stephen mccausland spokesman for the maine public safety department pierce considers herself lucky that she and the three children in her car did not become part of that statistic early on election day but she also feels cheated by the whole situation after all her car was totaled on the morning of the accident pierce was taking her two children and a neighbor s son to school in her NUMBER dodge dynasty she said she was going along at about NUMBER mph on a well traveled road when a moose came out of nowhere by the time my brain could see moose he was part of my windshield she said pierce is well aware of the law so as she sat in the ambulance with the children being treated for cuts and bruises she thought about the moose but the four of them were transferred to the hospital before she could deal with it so she said she wasn t able to follow up on the animal until later that day when she inquired she was told the deputy on the scene gave the fully racked bull moose to a neighbor who showed up with a tractor her neighbor she said subsequently offered her the moose for the NUMBER it took him to carry it away money she didn t think she should spend by the time she contacted the attorney general s office on nov NUMBER to complain about the deputy giving her moose away the neighbor s price had gone up another NUMBER for the cost of butchering NUMBER pounds of meat and when she called york county chief deputy maurice ouellette to complain that she should be compensated for the moose because it was the officer s fault that she didn t have it ouellette told her he could not give her cash and the best he could do was to give her the next moose struck in york county at that point in time it became an issue of not wanting moose anymore but wanting money ouellette said that conversation and a similar one she had with york county sheriff phil cote left pierce enraged and she now feels the issue has gone beyond the moose but the circumstances that brought her to this point are not surprising to other officials it s the officer s discretion said latti and if the officer feels the person can t immediately remove the animal he s got to think of public safety and other people on the roadway if someone is worried about her children in her car the last thing a law enforcement officer wants to ask is if she wants the moose maine state police trooper jeremy forbes said when he arrives at accidents that involve a serious injury to a person the issue of who gets the animal deer or moose becomes secondary the priorities are the injuries and getting people to the hospital he said if they are really hurt and going to the hospital the animal can t wait so we ll probably give it to the next person who stops by this is not comforting to pierce she said the deputy could have come to the ambulance and asked her what she wanted to do with the moose with her boyfriend a hunter nearby she could have easily taken care of the animal herself she knows her situation is probably a lost cause but she hopes other people especially other women do not have the same experience what about people who don t know the law she said standing up for my rights has just been a big headache staff writer giselle goodman can be contacted at NUMBER NUMBER or at ggoodman URL to unsubscribe from this group send an email to forteana unsubscribe URL your use of yahoo groups is subject to URL 