Investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) are seeing more instances of people buying or selling wild game meat online these days, so they have been cracking down on cyber-violators.

“It is illegal to sell or purchase game meat online,” said Lt. George Wilson, head of the FWC’s Internet Crimes Unit.  People often do so through online advertisements, unknowingly breaking the law.

“We are running into this quite frequently in our Internet Crimes Unit,” Wilson said.  “People are posting ads, asking to buy meat, from deer and ducks, for example.”

A popular new pet-diet may be escalating the problem.  The diet, referred to as the “prey model,” calls for hormone-free, natural meat for dogs.  This leads pet owners to look for wild game meat, often on the Internet.

“Not only is this a violation, it is also a safety concern for people who purchase wild game meat online for themselves or their pets,” Wilson said.  “People who purchase the meat don’t know the sanitary conditions in which it was processed.”

To report wildlife law violations, visit MyFWC.com/Law/Alert or call 888-404-FWCC (3922).

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