By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ news
The mayor of Chenoa says, legally, he did nothing wrong in his handling of several wild turkeys that were shot and killed over the weekend.
The turkeys made the town their home earlier this summer, gaining a fan following on social media. But several people did complain that there was damage to cars and the birds had acted aggressively.
Monday’s city council meeting was standing room only, as both supporters and critics to the Saturday shooting.
Mayor Chris Wilder promised he poured over Illinois Department of Natural Resources documents as well as city ordinances prior to the shooting of the wild birds and said all rules and laws were followed. He also said he felt the meeting went better than he expected.
“This was much better than it was online. Everyone was cooperative and peaceful. It (the turkeys) could have been handled differently, however, this was the decision that was made and we have to live with it. Moving forward there were many lessons learned from this incident that changes can be made,” Wilder said.
With any questions, people can contact the City Attorney Steve Mann at 945-2611.
WMBD-TV contributed to this story.
