It may be OK to use a Taser to stun a mugger, but not a moose.
The Alaska Board of Game recently passed a statewide proposal prohibiting the use of electronic control devices, a.k.a. Tasers, for the taking of game, except under a permit issued by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The action was taken during a Board of Game meetingin Anchorage March 26-30.
According to a press release issued by ADF&G on Thursday, the department submitted the proposal after recent media attention about the use of Tasers on wildlife, particularly bears and moose, and subsequent public and wildlife safety concerns relating to their use.
ADF&G biologists in Fairbanks unsuccessfully used a Taser on a cow moose a little more than two months ago in an attempt to stun it so they could remove a rope from around its neck. The moose had been roaming an east Fairbanks neighborhood with a rope around its neck after some local residents used the rope to pull it out of the Chena River in early January.
Biologists used a special wildlife Taser in an attempt to stun the moose on Feb. 4 in the Hamilton Acres subdivision but could not get the probes to stick, which they attributed to the animal’s thick winter hair.
It was the first time state wildlife officials used a Taser on an animal in the northern region of the state but biologists in Southcentral and Southeast have experimented with the Taser on animals.
“The department recognized the lack of authority to regulate the use of ECDs on wildlife and brought the concern to the Board of Game,” the press release stated. “Restricting the use of ECD technology will reduce the risk of improper or unethical use on wildlife by the public or other agency personnel who are unfamiliar with the potential effects and hazards.”
The change does not impact other legal uses of Tasers by the general public for the purpose of personal protection, or their use by law enforcement in human restraint.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - entry Board of Game bans Tasers for hunting
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