PORTAGE, Wis. (WMTV) - Chief Ken Manthey of the Portage Police Department apologized to the community after an officer shot a well-known Sandhill Crane Wednesday.
In a press release, Manthey said following the incident, the department will no longer seek permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for harvesting Sandhill Cranes.
A police officer shot and killed the crane after he received numerous complaints that the crane had become a nuisance, by causing damage to vehicles and other property with its beak.
Authorities say the bird had been a problem for more than a year and caused damage to property multiple times.
According to the release Wednesday, the officer involved “feels very badly that citizens had to witness this incident; especially if young children observed this.”
”In hindsight, he realizes that dispatching this bird on a Sunday afternoon on Labor Day weekend was poor judgment and he should have done things differently.I can assure the public that this officer is an excellent officer and normally uses very good judgment and discretion; this poor decision was very much out of the norm for him.”
