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 Jack 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 Jack 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.
I agree with Sam. It’s simple to pretty much “bear-proof” your can, that is if it is a standard
green vinyl can as provided the the trash collectors. On the front edge of the lid, just
drill a hole on each side large enough to accomodate the metal S-hook of the bungee. Then drill two more on the upper part of the indent moulded into the front of the can. Hook one
bungee on each side. Use the sturdy flat black rubber bungees in the proper length. the bears may drag it, jump on it, and finally give up and go looking for easier chow. One more thing:
be sure to remove the bungees just before the truck gets there.
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.
I also live on Wakonda Beach Road. This bear would get into your garbage can if put out the night before pick up, even if it was empty. It’s not practical to keep garbage in your house for a week but that’s what I would do. You could see trash cans that had been knocked over the night before pick up. I’m glad the bear is gone. It would visit my property during the day so I did get a bear tag to deal with it. The bear I saw repeatedly was not lame. It was able to tear up my apple trees by climbing high and breaking many branches. Thankfully someone got the bear — although too bad it was illegally.
My husband and I used to eat there all the time. I will never eat there again, now. I know that bears can be a hassle, but they don’t deserve to be killed illegally.
For those of you that absolutely hate the bears please try spraying your garbage can with ammonia, even all around the can. Bears don’t like it. Spraying with PineSol also, you obviously need to do this more than once, but please, please refrain from killing the wildlife. The bears really don’t bother people, you can make a loud noise, have motion lights, they will go away. They don’t bother dogs or cats or people unless you are a threat and they have cubs. So please don’t kill the bears. I hope that one doesn’t have cubs. It is just so sad.
Why arent the bears removed to the National Forest right behind Waldport that is thousands of acres with ton of herds of elk and berries for the bears to have a natural habitat? They should not be living among homes and children. There is an abundance of national forest from here to Tillamook.
Funny thing is that timber companies hire trappers to kill bears out in the woods and they just let them lay. I could never understand this true statement.