Bradbury, California

From San Gabriel’s SGVTribune.com of July 13, 2007

Shooting of bear drawing criticism

Local officials raised questions Thursday about the killing of a black bear in a Bradbury back yard over the weekend.

An unidentified man, who lives in the 2100 block of Gardi Street in Bradbury, obtained a state permit to kill the bear earlier this month, officials said. State game authorities deemed the animal a nuisance.

Bradbury and Duarte officials have asked the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to investigate.

The homeowner shot and killed the animal Sunday, authorities said. Duarte City Manager Darrell George said they would be looking into the notion of potentially illegally discharging a firearm.

"Did this happen the way it was supposed to happen?" he said.

Bradbury and Duarte officials additionally claim they were not told the state Department of Fish and Game had issued a depredation permit in Bradbury, which is essentially a license to kill troublesome critters.

"I am very surprised we never got notification of the permit going out, but we are working out with fish and game officials," Bradbury City Manager Jennifer Vasquez said.

"When something like this happens, it disturbs us all in the field of animal control," said John Mack,

Duarte's code enforcement officer, who believes he may have encountered the same bear in Duarte recently.

Vasquez said the city's Web site encourages people to learn to live with the bears. She said she was not surprised Duarte was concerned about a bear shooting in Bradbury.
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"These things have to be done sometimes," McBride said. "The people who don't have the problem in their back yard don't understand the problem. They haven't experienced the worry about a bear entering their home. It's very easy to sit back and say that shouldn't have happened. But they don't know."