Battle over Bullwinkle!

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Battle over Bullwinkle: Woman says police stole her roadkill

December 4, 2002 (ACTON, Maine) � Lisa Pierce says police gave away her moose.
Pierce totaled her 1991 Dodge Dynasty when she accidentally struck the animal while driving her children and a neighbor's son to school a month ago.

When York County Sheriff's Deputies rushed to the scene and offered first aid, they agreed to let a nearby resident remove the animal from the road, police said.

"The woman gets into a car accident involving a moose," explained Lt. Gary Fecteau. "She's injured; she's being tended to � The moose is severely injured in the middle of the road.

"A gentleman comes by and says, Geez, I can get it out of the way if you want."

Because police were busy tending to Pierce, they agreed, Fecteau said.

Pierce insists state law gives her first dibs on any big-game animal struck by her vehicle, and that deputies should have checked with her before giving it away.

"I think the deputy thought he was doing me a favor," she told the Portland Press-Herald. "I'm a woman and he just neglected to think that I would want it. The moose is gone, I know that now. I want to be compensated for the meat."

The Sheriff's Department says they were rightly concerned with treating Pierce, not asking her about the carcass.

"She was in no condition to be making arrangements," Fecteau insisted.

Police offered to give Pierce the next moose struck by a car in the county, but that has not satisfied Pierce. The man who hauled the carcass away offered to sell it to her for the cost of retrieving the animal. After he butchered the moose, he also wanted to charge her for the cost of removing the 450 pounds of meat. Pierce wanted the Sheriff's Department to pay, but officials refused.

"She was insistent that we get the moose back for her," Fecteau said. "She said, 'I want this one.'"

"We said, 'Fine. End of conversation,'" he continued. "What can we do?"

Copyright �2002 ABC Inc., WLS Television, Inc.