Two female deer were found in the Angeles National Forest with their heads removed, one skinned and the other cut into quarters, stuffed into black trash bags. Under current California law, the people accused of doing this face at most a $1,000 fine or six months in jail.

The California State Legislature has the power to change that. Lawmakers should raise the penalties for poaching deer so the punishment matches the cruelty and the danger.

In late August, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) officers on a night patrol pulled over two vehicles that had left the road and were sweeping spotlights across the forest. According to the department, officers found three people whose hands and clothing were bloodied, along with loaded guns, spotlights and the remains of the two does. CDFW says the suspects confessed to the illegal killings and to trying to hide what they had done. They were arrested and released after signing written promises to show up in court.

The violations CDFW listed include unlawfully killing female deer, hunting with no license or tags, carrying loaded guns in a vehicle and spotlighting, which means using bright lights at night to freeze animals in place. All of them are misdemeanors.

Night hunting with loaded guns puts more than wildlife at risk. The Angeles sits mostly within Los Angeles County, close to millions of residents. Alan Barcelona, president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, said these investigations put officers in danger, since they often approach armed people in the dark on rough ground.

Licensed hunters follow the rules and pay for their tags. Poachers skip all of it. When the worst outcome is a $1,000 fine, getting caught can look like a cost of doing business.

Sign the petition to call on the California State Legislature to pass tougher poaching penalties now, before more deer in the Angeles are killed and hidden in trash bags.