A Port Renfrew man has had his conviction for three offences under the Wildlife Act overturned by the Supreme Court of B.C.
Gregory Brett Klem was fined $3,300 in 2011 for shooting a black bear with birdshot in a residential neighbourhood during the Canada Day long weekend.
However, Supreme Court Justice Robin Baird found Klem was acting reasonably by trying to scare a problem bear away from a neighbourhood with tennis courts and a public park.
Klem had chased the bear off his property when it threatened his dog, then pursued it, warning people along the way to get inside.
In the judgement, Baird wrote that he agreed with Klem that it would have been irresponsible not to have pursued the bear, which had become habituated to people.
The original trial judge concluded Klem should have left the bear to be dealt with by the Conservation Service, but Baird noted several people had called about the bear, with no response.
The animal was never found.
Klem “was merely doing what he thought was necessary to protect himself, his dog and his fellow citizens from a problem bear,” Baird wrote.
