Good Samaritan Recovery Fund
Donation protected
In June 2013, Mr. Steve Patterson of Oglesby, IL rescued two baby bald eagles from a blown down nest in LaSalle County, Illinois. The photo pictured is that of the actual nest and one of the eaglets, taken by Steve Patterson in May 2013 before the accident.
A storm had blown through and torn the nest down from the tree. The baby eagles had been on the ground for four days and were in danger of predation and dehydration, and both eaglets had broken wings from the 60-foot fall. After contacting the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, who told him to "let nature take it's course", Mr. Patterson immediately contacted a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center who retrieved the eaglets within hours. A few days later, the police were knocking on his door and issued him 4 tickets (2 counts for each bird) stating that he broke the law for "taking" a protected species and for handling birds of prey.
On October 9, 2014, the judge declared a mistrial in his court case and the prosecutor decided to continue pursuing this man. We were saddened to learn that after receiving 53,000 petition signatures (see the petition online at www.tinyurl.com/pattersonpetition), the State's Attorney's office decided to continue prosecuting this man in a second trial on February 23, 2015. This man only did what he thought was right; rescued two injured, dehydrated, starving eagles and got them the help they needed to survive.
The time, effort and money that have been spent in trying to prosecute Mr. Patterson could have been used in so many other ways, such as going after true criminals by prosecuting those who are out to hurt; not those who are trying to help. It was only after witnessing the eaglets on the ground for several days and seeing them injured that Mr. Patterson decided to take matters into his own hands. Yes, he was told to let them die, so he technically broke the law. However, most states have laws protecting people who rescue injured animals.
The federal Good Samaritan protection law is not available under Illinois law, which makes things very difficult for a person who is only trying to help an injured or suffering animal. The term “take”, as defined by Sec 1.2o of the Illinois Wildlife Code 520 ILCS 5/1.2o, “means hunt, shoot, pursue, lure, kill, destroy, capture, gig or spear, trap or ensnare, harass, or to attempt to do so.” These attributes make it sound like “taking” is done with malicious intent; not with the intent to rescue and help an injured animal. Clearly, Mr. Patterson’s intentions were not malicious. He did not take the eagles home to raise them as pets or attempt to nurse the eagles back to good health; he immediately contacted a professional with a license to do so.
On February 26, 2015 after a three day trial, a panel of 12 jurors found Mr. Patterson NOT GUILTY on all counts. After nearly 2 years of fighting the system and spending his entire life savings, Mr. Patterson can go home and relax knowing he did the right thing...but has been left penniless and has nothing to show for it.
We have setup this fund to pay the legal bill for Mr. Patterson. Go Fund Me will submit the payment to his attorney so that Mr. Patterson can be reimbursed nearly $20,000 in legal fees that it has cost him to clear his name. All donations received are being directed to Mr. Patterson's attorney, Tom McClintock's office - Aplington, Kaufman, McClintock, Steel & Barry, Ltd. of LaSalle, IL.
Please consider helping in any way you can. There is more “happy ending” to this story...one of the eaglets, named "Sam" in honor of the Good Samaritan law proposal that is underway in Illinois, was released back into the wild on January 1, 2015. Photos of the eagle release can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/samrelease2015.
The second eagle named "Patty" in honor of her rescuer (Mr. Patterson), suffered a more significant injury and is still undergoing professional care at this time. An assessment of her wing will take place in the next few months, and we hope to see her released back into the wild again someday.
Thank you for your support of Mr. Patterson during his trial, and for helping him defer some of the legal costs with this fundraiser.
A storm had blown through and torn the nest down from the tree. The baby eagles had been on the ground for four days and were in danger of predation and dehydration, and both eaglets had broken wings from the 60-foot fall. After contacting the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, who told him to "let nature take it's course", Mr. Patterson immediately contacted a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center who retrieved the eaglets within hours. A few days later, the police were knocking on his door and issued him 4 tickets (2 counts for each bird) stating that he broke the law for "taking" a protected species and for handling birds of prey.
On October 9, 2014, the judge declared a mistrial in his court case and the prosecutor decided to continue pursuing this man. We were saddened to learn that after receiving 53,000 petition signatures (see the petition online at www.tinyurl.com/pattersonpetition), the State's Attorney's office decided to continue prosecuting this man in a second trial on February 23, 2015. This man only did what he thought was right; rescued two injured, dehydrated, starving eagles and got them the help they needed to survive.
The time, effort and money that have been spent in trying to prosecute Mr. Patterson could have been used in so many other ways, such as going after true criminals by prosecuting those who are out to hurt; not those who are trying to help. It was only after witnessing the eaglets on the ground for several days and seeing them injured that Mr. Patterson decided to take matters into his own hands. Yes, he was told to let them die, so he technically broke the law. However, most states have laws protecting people who rescue injured animals.
The federal Good Samaritan protection law is not available under Illinois law, which makes things very difficult for a person who is only trying to help an injured or suffering animal. The term “take”, as defined by Sec 1.2o of the Illinois Wildlife Code 520 ILCS 5/1.2o, “means hunt, shoot, pursue, lure, kill, destroy, capture, gig or spear, trap or ensnare, harass, or to attempt to do so.” These attributes make it sound like “taking” is done with malicious intent; not with the intent to rescue and help an injured animal. Clearly, Mr. Patterson’s intentions were not malicious. He did not take the eagles home to raise them as pets or attempt to nurse the eagles back to good health; he immediately contacted a professional with a license to do so.
On February 26, 2015 after a three day trial, a panel of 12 jurors found Mr. Patterson NOT GUILTY on all counts. After nearly 2 years of fighting the system and spending his entire life savings, Mr. Patterson can go home and relax knowing he did the right thing...but has been left penniless and has nothing to show for it.
We have setup this fund to pay the legal bill for Mr. Patterson. Go Fund Me will submit the payment to his attorney so that Mr. Patterson can be reimbursed nearly $20,000 in legal fees that it has cost him to clear his name. All donations received are being directed to Mr. Patterson's attorney, Tom McClintock's office - Aplington, Kaufman, McClintock, Steel & Barry, Ltd. of LaSalle, IL.
Please consider helping in any way you can. There is more “happy ending” to this story...one of the eaglets, named "Sam" in honor of the Good Samaritan law proposal that is underway in Illinois, was released back into the wild on January 1, 2015. Photos of the eagle release can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/samrelease2015.
The second eagle named "Patty" in honor of her rescuer (Mr. Patterson), suffered a more significant injury and is still undergoing professional care at this time. An assessment of her wing will take place in the next few months, and we hope to see her released back into the wild again someday.
Thank you for your support of Mr. Patterson during his trial, and for helping him defer some of the legal costs with this fundraiser.
Organizer
Andie Chocolatier Groff
Organizer
Yorkville, IL
