[from the 1/24/2002 Defiance Crescent-News] Ottawa River Beagle Club, 08866 Christy Road, was fined $5,500 on four charges...filed by Defiance County Wildlife Officer Jay Abele. Abele's investigation in December revealed that the beagle club placed leghold traps atop five- or six-foot poles at its Christy Road site to capture owls or hawks. According to Rohrs, the club claimed the birds were killing rabbits hunted by the organization's dogs...The investigation began on Dec. 15 when local resident Joe Dalton and a friend, Scott Williams, spotted a great horned owl in a tree hampered by a leghold trap. The owl was discovered near the beagle club on Christy Road, and apparently could not move when the trap caught in a branch. After the sheriff's office was alerted, a bucket truck was sued to remove the owl from the tree. Its talon was caught in the leghold trap, witnesses said. The free bird was turned over to Jacci Moss, a local rehabilitator for the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The bird recovered quickly and has since been released, Moss said this morning. According to assistant city law director David Land's office, Moss told authorities that she has seen "three or four" bird recovered in the area with leghold traps. The owl is a federally-protected game bird.