WALDPORT – Oregon State Police have cited a Waldport man and a Newport restaurant owner and his son for illegally killing and tagging a bear and storing the meat in the restaurant’s freezer.
Police cited property owner Roy Sanford of Waldport, Shinong Lee and Jackli Lee, both of Newport, for a variety of hunting violations. Shinong Lee is the owner of Lee’s Wok in Newport.
According to a police report, Fish and Wildlife troopers followed up a report of a bear shot Nov. 20 on Sanford’s property on Southwest Flansberg Road just south of Waldport. They determined that Sanford shot the bear without a harvest tag. Police said two other people, including Jackli Lee who had a bear tag, picked up the bear and validated the kill. The man with Lee was not cited.
The bear meat was processed and taken to Lee’s Wok “and placed in a commercial freezer alongside other food served at the restaurant,” police said.
In their report, state troopers said they asked Lincoln County health officials to inspect the restaurant. An inspector visited the restaurant Nov. 22, according to county records, found the bear meat and sport-caught fish in the same freezer as other food and ordered the restaurant closed. It reopened a day later after cleaning and a second inspection.
Living just down the road from where this bear was shot. I have to say that bear was constantly getting into the trash up and down Wakonda Beach Road. He was always in my back yard. He wasn’t scared of humans and lights. We were going to call fish and game but he stopped frequenting the property. Now we know why. Glad we can safely walk around again.
Won’t be eating there ever again.
Hopefully every time a bear gets into someone’s garbage or someone finds a stray animal they don’t think they have the right to shoot it. I will never eat at Lee’s Wok again, ever. I hope they got a huge fine. Clean up your trash and you won’t have the problem. Rarely do the bears ever bother people, same with deer so please don’t go around shooting them for an excuse to kill an animal. Some people put their garbage cans in the garage, some bungie cord them. Just some ideas.
Clearly a nuisance bear and according to state law and can be shot with no tag, but must be turned over to fish and game though. Mr. Lee has also been cited for many fishing violations.
My husband and I used to eat there all the time, but never again. I know that bears can be a hassle, but they don’t deserve to be killed illegally. Shame on them.
I also live just down the road from where this bear was shot, and can verify that the reason the bear frequented this property was the abundance of garbage. There are far more people living on this property than is legal with the zoning, and they are serviced only by one small garbage can. That being said, there are people on Wakonda Road who refuse to secure their garbage, and it’s obvious that bears have habituated themselves to those areas. We live with bears folks, and they wouldn’t be bothering you if you didn’t entice them with your garbage.
Well said …
I’m worried that this was our lame bear that wasn’t able to hurt anybody. Fish and game said they would leave her be as she was healthy and not hurting anything. If this was her I’m fuming inside. If anyone knows please let me know.