An incident that was reported earlier this year has upped the reward to find the suspect involved with scrapping “Trump” on a manatee’s back.
After no luck finding the suspect and a lack of receiving relevant information, The Animal Legal Defense Fund is offering a total of $8,000 for additional information to find the suspect. Dave Bautista, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” star, is offering a $20,000 reward to help find the vandal who did this to the species that were removed from the endangered species list just years ago.
In January, when this story was first reported, authorities told Fox News that the manatee did not seem seriously injured. A nonprofit wildlife group Save the Manatee Club said that it could have caused the manatee discomfort or pain, though.
Hailey Warrington, a boat captain who shared the footage of the manatee, mentioned it “did seem that the animal was very upset.”
Manatees are protected under the Endangered Species Act for close to 60 years now. Harassing one is a federal crime and you can get fined up to $50,000 and up to a year in prison.
According to a research report, manatees are dying at an inclining rate. TCPalm also stated that more Florida manatees have died in just the first 3 months of 2021 than what died in 2020 alone.
Plain and simple, this is a heinous act and I’m hoping with the financial backing of The Animal Legal Defense Fund and others, that this suspect is brought to justice. Also, there is no evidence that the suspect that did this is a supporter of the former president. Hopefully this incident is resolved soon and not used against the millions who supported 45.
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