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Garden City man fined for turkey living in his backyard

Posted at 5:01 PM, Jun 28, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-28 18:32:00-04

A turkey is making it’s home in the back yard of Mark Johnston’s home and now he is getting a $100 fine for it.

“He’s here all day long and then I mean, he disappears," Johnston said. "I mean, he’ll jump the fence and disappears for a few hours then he comes back."

Johnston said he hasn’t gone out of his way to make this turkey comfortable since it started trotting around at his Garden City home six months ago.

“I don’t feed him i don’t give him water or anything,” Johnston said.

The turkey general keeps to himself occasionally gobbling when a car drives by, he added.

Garden City officials eventually caught on. A few days ago, they gave him a ticket for $100 for keeping the turkey as a pet.

Johnston says he’s tried getting rid of the turkey in the past.

“I called several places, but as soon as I tell them that it’s a wild turkey tom, they said no they won’t touch it,” Johnston said.

That’s because it’s against the law. The Department of Natural Resources says as long as any wild animal is not disturbing the peace you can’t move it. If you do, you can face fines.

7 Action News did speak with the Chief of Police for Garden City, Tim Gibbons. He says they have been working with Johnston since April to try and get rid of the turkey from the property.

Chief Gibbons says a neighbor complained about the turkey and Johnston’s overgrown backyard yard. Gibbons believes if Johnston cleans up his back yard, the turkey will do away.

Johnston says he is working on clearing his backyard.