29.1-553 - Selling or offering for sale; penalty. - Virginia Statutes

§ 29.1-553. Selling or offering for sale; penalty.

A. Any person who offers for sale, sells, offers to purchase, or purchasesany wild bird or wild animal, or any part thereof, or any freshwater fish,except as provided by law, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. However,when the aggregate of such sales or purchases or any combination thereof, byany person totals $200 or more during any 90-day period, that person shall beguilty of a Class 6 felony.

B. Whether or not criminal charges have been placed, when any property istaken possession of by a conservation police officer for the purpose of beingused as evidence of a violation of this section or for confiscation, theconservation police officer making such seizure shall immediately report theseizure to the Attorney for the Commonwealth.

C. In any prosecution for a violation of this section, photographs of thewild bird, wild animal, or any freshwater fish, or any part thereof shall bedeemed competent evidence of such wild bird, wild animal, or freshwater fish,or part thereof and shall be admissible in any proceeding, hearing, or trialof the case to the same extent as if such wild bird, wild animal, or anyfreshwater fish, or part thereof had been introduced as evidence. Suchphotographs shall bear a written description of the wild bird, wild animal,or freshwater fish, or parts thereof, the name of the place where the allegedoffense occurred, the date on which the alleged offense occurred, the name ofthe accused, the name of the arresting officer or investigating officer, thedate of the photograph, and the name of the photographer. The photographsshall be identified by the signature of the photographer.

D. Any licensed Virginia auctioneer or licensed auction firm that sells, as alegitimate item of an auction sale, wildlife mounts that have undergone thetaxidermy process, shall be exempt from the provisions of this section andsubdivision A 11 of § 29.1-521.

(Code 1950, § 29-164; 1962, c. 469; 1986, c. 182; 1987, c. 488; 1989, c. 203;1994, c. 848; 1997, c. 172; 2005, c. 170; 2007, c. 87.)