Capital Region Man Charged With Improper Disposal of Animal Parts?

A Capital Region businessman found himself in some hot water earlier this year. The reason? Improper disposal of animal parts. What???

On Tuesday October 3, 2023 a Schenectady County business owner accepted a guilty plea and paid a penalty in a case investigated by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and local police and involved animals taken to the business for taxidermy.

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Earlier this year, according to a New York State DEC press release, the owner of Droptine Taxidermy near Scott Bush Road in Glenville, NY. was charged with two counts of felony scheme to defraud and one count of petit larceny. It appears that Joseph Russell accepted animal carcasses and agreed to provide taxidermy services. Problem is he did not return the deposits to more than a dozen customers.

This month Russell accepted a guilty plea and paid a penalty for those violations committed earlier this year. This Spring the DEC teamed with Glenville Police and searched the Scotch Bush Road property. Officers observed violations including the improper disposal of animal parts susceptible to Chronic Wasting Disease.

The CDC reports that Chronic Wasting Disease is a disease that affects deer, elk and and moose to name a few. Symptoms can include drastic weight loss (wasting), stumbling, listlessness and other neurologic symptoms.

Joseph Russell is also accused of failure to keep taxidermy records as required, and failure to report game harvest as required. Russell paid a $525 fine imposed by the judge. The defendant and their attorney are cooperating with Glenville Police regarding multiple charges of petit larceny and an alleged scheme to defraud taxidermy customers.