Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

Ex-game official cruel to his dogs Mohr pleads guilty, fined $100
BY BRETT HAMBRIGHT, Staff Writer

Former Pennsylvania Game Commissioner Stephen L. Mohr pleaded guilty Wednesday to animal cruelty for keeping dogs in foul conditions.

Mohr, also a Conoy Township supervisor, admitted to keeping five dogs in wet and dirty conditions at a Bainbridge farm.

Mohr, 62, of 144 Race St., pleaded guilty to two summary counts of animal cruelty and paid a $100 fine.

"The dogs were living in complete filth," Assistant District Attorney Christine L. Wilson said afterward. "Hopefully, Mr. Mohr will realize he was given a second chance today and will take the necessary steps to clean up his dogs' living quarters."

Acting on a tip last year, Humane Society Officer Keith Mohler said he discovered the dogs at the Stackstown Road farm and directed Mohr to clean up the cages.

However, when Mohler returned on Oct. 15, little had changed.

"They were still totally unacceptable," Mohler said on Wednesday. "The law says clean and sanitary conditions and these dogs had neither."

Mohler said the dogs -- three German short-haired pointers and two beagles -- were living in feces and mud "inches deep."

The state Department of Dog Law Enforcement also cited Mohr for license and rabies vaccination violations. He pleaded guilty last month to those offenses.

In exchange for Mohr's guilty plea on Wednesday, prosecutors agreed to withdraw three of the five charges.

The dogs remain at the farm, Mohler said.

"We'll be keeping an eye on them," he said.

After serving as a member of the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners from 1998 to 2006, Mohr has become one of the state's leading critics of the agency's deer management program.

He is president of Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, which objects to the program.

bhambright@lnpnews.com