Carolyn Peirce, The Examiner
2008-02-21 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

Ellicott City -

The employee of an Ellicott City art gallery was reduced to tears when an officer barged into the exhibit and snatched three mounted owls and several songbirds.

“In our opinion, it was a theft without any probable cause or warrant,” said Eric Parnes, an employee of the Still Life gallery, which uses natural history displays to inspire artwork.

“It never dawned on us that this (the seizure) would be legal, so we thought it was someone pretending to be a police officer.”

Natural Resources Police Officer Michael Lathroum removed the mounted birds Tuesday because the gallery lacked a permit to possess birds native to Maryland.

Gallery owner Rebecca Weber tried calling Howard police to file theft charges against the officer.

“There was some giggling on the dispatch line about responding to stolen birds,” Parnes said.

Lathroum was driving past the art gallery when he saw the owl display and turned his car around, according to the Natural Resources police.

When employee Janet Decker couldn’t produce the permit, Lathroum made off with the owls and a Victorian songbird display, including a Baltimore Oriole.

“It was as if there was a drug bust in the middle of the gallery,” Parnes said.

“Maybe, if you didn’t know this was an art gallery, you might think it was an illegal taxidermy operation.”

Ken Turner, spokesman for the Natural Resources police, said Lathroum’s actions, although abrupt, were legal.

Lathroum was preserving evidence by confiscating the animals, he said. No charges have been filed.

Weber said she’s collected mounted animals since she was a child and never knew a permit was required.

And two of the mounted owls are not even native to Maryland, she said.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com