Are Florida protected species more valuable than human lives?
The Issue
My name is John Falango. I am 44 years old, married for 9 years and have an amazing 11-year-old son. I am what many would deem as a simple hard-working father/husband dedicated to God, my family and friends. I have never been in trouble with the law, but everything changed on the morning of October 26th.
You see I live on property in Sebring, FL and encounter beautiful wildlife all the time over the years. I am an avid animal lover. We have encountered bears, panthers, bobcat, coyotes etc. never having any issue, but the morning of October 26th was different. How was this morning different? Perhaps it was the commotion of the dog running around barking, son was doing chores before school, my wife getting ready for work, myself outside tending to chores before work, but suddenly I found myself faced with a very angry bear. I had been distracted that morning due to a busy morning before work, not realizing there were bears and I found myself faced with a very real fear as I witnessed a bear shredding a tree, hissing, swinging his claws around and coming down a tree. It is easy to Monday morning quarter back a situation until you are in a situation and faced with very real decisions with mere split seconds.
In that moment, I felt complete panic, fear and adrenalin racing through my body. This was not like any other bear encounter. Due to the busy morning start doing chores, taking care of the dog having morning playtime outside and preparing for a busy work/school day, I was not sure where my son was at the moment, but I was sure my dog was standing in harms way with these bears as well as myself. I can’t describe that level of fear, one would have to experience it to truly understand. You see I respect and love wildlife and have never killed an animal in my life, but the fear, the panic, being terrified – that feeling can’t adequately be put into words.
I have never faced this type of situation. There were several bears. I didn’t have a full accounting of where they were, but I knew there was an angry bear among other bears. All I can say is this was not a typical bear encounter I have experienced in the past; it was not a typical morning. My intent was to scare off the bears and avoid any threat to my dog, self and family. I could not tell you how many shots I fired; I just know I was seeking to scare these bears away. Sadly two bears were shot and died that morning. When the threat was eliminated and my fear subsided and I had a moment to reflect on what just occurred, I cried that what I had seen at the time was a dead bear. This is why I immediately called authorities.
As a result of this one fateful morning, I found myself being charged with penalty of serving up to 16 years in prison. Friends have said to me: “John, why did you call authorities? You could have avoided all of this by not calling to report this and no one never would have known, and you would not be faced with this situation of prison time looming!” My response to them is always the same: “I didn’t view this as my doing something wrong, but I viewed it as doing the right thing, in that given situation, to protect and the right thing to report.”
I am very aware of petitions from animal activists against me because they love animals and seek to protect the bears. We share a love of animals and desire to protect the bears. I am not an advocate of killing bears!
In my case, there have been some who judged me without ever hearing from me and having any of the fact sets but a one-sided narrative. I am reminded of the Bible quote: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
I feel very alone having to again defend myself for actions that occurred that fateful morning in October, only this time I have to defend myself against a legal system threatening me with jail time. While my encounter with these bears is certainly not the norm, I know I can’t be the only one. Witness State Representative Jason Shoaf introducing HB 1587.
I fully support FL protected species. I am also in support of the right to defend oneself and/or family when they are met with very serious real danger, fear and threat.
It is ironic that if the bear that morning were replaced with a man with a sword threatening me and my family (and yes my dog is my family as well), I would be completely justified for defending myself. I would hope the message isn’t that FL protected species lives are more valued than human lives.
Thank you for taking time to read my story and not the narrative told by media/FWC.
I respectfully ask for any support you can offer by signing my petition to support this case to be dropped from any criminal charges that leads to jail time separating myself from my son and wife.
Complete the calls to action listed below.
Please Sign and share the Petition link.
https://chng.it/8PbrwqtQbB
Contact State Attorney Brian Haas
Email: bhaas@sao10.com
Contact State Attorney's Office, 10th Judicial Circuit
Email: sao10mail@sao10.com
Petition Closed
The Issue
My name is John Falango. I am 44 years old, married for 9 years and have an amazing 11-year-old son. I am what many would deem as a simple hard-working father/husband dedicated to God, my family and friends. I have never been in trouble with the law, but everything changed on the morning of October 26th.
You see I live on property in Sebring, FL and encounter beautiful wildlife all the time over the years. I am an avid animal lover. We have encountered bears, panthers, bobcat, coyotes etc. never having any issue, but the morning of October 26th was different. How was this morning different? Perhaps it was the commotion of the dog running around barking, son was doing chores before school, my wife getting ready for work, myself outside tending to chores before work, but suddenly I found myself faced with a very angry bear. I had been distracted that morning due to a busy morning before work, not realizing there were bears and I found myself faced with a very real fear as I witnessed a bear shredding a tree, hissing, swinging his claws around and coming down a tree. It is easy to Monday morning quarter back a situation until you are in a situation and faced with very real decisions with mere split seconds.
In that moment, I felt complete panic, fear and adrenalin racing through my body. This was not like any other bear encounter. Due to the busy morning start doing chores, taking care of the dog having morning playtime outside and preparing for a busy work/school day, I was not sure where my son was at the moment, but I was sure my dog was standing in harms way with these bears as well as myself. I can’t describe that level of fear, one would have to experience it to truly understand. You see I respect and love wildlife and have never killed an animal in my life, but the fear, the panic, being terrified – that feeling can’t adequately be put into words.
I have never faced this type of situation. There were several bears. I didn’t have a full accounting of where they were, but I knew there was an angry bear among other bears. All I can say is this was not a typical bear encounter I have experienced in the past; it was not a typical morning. My intent was to scare off the bears and avoid any threat to my dog, self and family. I could not tell you how many shots I fired; I just know I was seeking to scare these bears away. Sadly two bears were shot and died that morning. When the threat was eliminated and my fear subsided and I had a moment to reflect on what just occurred, I cried that what I had seen at the time was a dead bear. This is why I immediately called authorities.
As a result of this one fateful morning, I found myself being charged with penalty of serving up to 16 years in prison. Friends have said to me: “John, why did you call authorities? You could have avoided all of this by not calling to report this and no one never would have known, and you would not be faced with this situation of prison time looming!” My response to them is always the same: “I didn’t view this as my doing something wrong, but I viewed it as doing the right thing, in that given situation, to protect and the right thing to report.”
I am very aware of petitions from animal activists against me because they love animals and seek to protect the bears. We share a love of animals and desire to protect the bears. I am not an advocate of killing bears!
In my case, there have been some who judged me without ever hearing from me and having any of the fact sets but a one-sided narrative. I am reminded of the Bible quote: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
I feel very alone having to again defend myself for actions that occurred that fateful morning in October, only this time I have to defend myself against a legal system threatening me with jail time. While my encounter with these bears is certainly not the norm, I know I can’t be the only one. Witness State Representative Jason Shoaf introducing HB 1587.
I fully support FL protected species. I am also in support of the right to defend oneself and/or family when they are met with very serious real danger, fear and threat.
It is ironic that if the bear that morning were replaced with a man with a sword threatening me and my family (and yes my dog is my family as well), I would be completely justified for defending myself. I would hope the message isn’t that FL protected species lives are more valued than human lives.
Thank you for taking time to read my story and not the narrative told by media/FWC.
I respectfully ask for any support you can offer by signing my petition to support this case to be dropped from any criminal charges that leads to jail time separating myself from my son and wife.
Complete the calls to action listed below.
Please Sign and share the Petition link.
https://chng.it/8PbrwqtQbB
Contact State Attorney Brian Haas
Email: bhaas@sao10.com
Contact State Attorney's Office, 10th Judicial Circuit
Email: sao10mail@sao10.com
Petition Updates
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Petition created on April 8, 2023