Green River man sentenced for cat food poisoning that killed dog

A Green River man has been sentenced to a year's probation and ordered to pay $7,500 in fines and restitution for misusing a pesticide that killed a hound dog on his melon farm.

Chris C. Dunham, 51, pleaded guilty in federal court in Salt Lake City to using a registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling, a misdemeanor charge. He was sentenced on Wednesday.

According to a guilty plea statement filed in U.S. District Court, Dunham, who grows melons and has a federal pesticide license, placed 50 bowls of cat food soaked with Furadan around his farm to keep pests out.

Federal prosecutors said that weeks after setting out the cat food, Dunham invited a man and his hound dog onto the property to "hunt a bear that he wanted removed." While on Dunham's property, the blue-tick coon hound dog Boone sniffed out the Furadan-saturated cat food and ate it. The dog died shortly afterward.

In a court filing asking for the fines, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah said the victim was deprived of his bear hunting dog.

"Due to Boone's age, experience, and the amount of training required to make him as proficient as he was at tracking and hunting bears, Boone is worth approximately $5,000," assistant U.S. attorney Jared Bennett wrote.

U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman defended the sentence saying Dunham is a licensed pesticide applicator who knew that using Furadan for bait is both illegal and dangerous.

"This case is a reminder that the illegal use of pesticides can have really sad results," said Lori Hansen, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Environmental Protection Agency's criminal investigation division. "(Wednesday's) sentence sends the message that pesticides must be used safely and legally in order to protect pets and wildlife, and those who fail to do so will be prosecuted."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

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