                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SELLING OR OFFERING FOR SALE; PENALTY (§ 29.1-553)

A. Any person who offers for sale, sells, offers to purchase, or purchases any
wild bird or wild animal, or any part thereof, or any freshwater fish, except as
provided by law, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. However, when the
aggregate of such sales or purchases, or any combination thereof, by any person
totals $1,000 or more during any 90-day period, that person shall be guilty of a
Class 6 felony.

B. Whether or not criminal charges have been placed, when any property is taken
possession of by a conservation police officer for the purpose of being used as
evidence of a violation of this section or for confiscation, the conservation
police officer making such seizure shall immediately report the seizure to the
Attorney for the Commonwealth.

C. In any prosecution for a violation of this section, photographs of the wild
bird, wild animal, or any freshwater fish, or any part thereof shall be deemed
competent evidence of such wild bird, wild animal, or freshwater fish, or part
thereof and shall be admissible in any proceeding, hearing, or trial of the case
to the same extent as if such wild bird, wild animal, or any freshwater fish, or
part thereof had been introduced as evidence. Such photographs shall bear a
written description of the wild bird, wild animal, or freshwater fish, or parts
thereof, the name of the place where the alleged offense occurred, the date on
which the alleged offense occurred, the name of the accused, the name of the
arresting officer or investigating officer, the date of the photograph, and the
name of the photographer. The photographs shall be identified by the signature
of the photographer.

D. Any licensed Virginia auctioneer or licensed auction firm that sells, as a
legitimate item of an auction sale, wildlife mounts that have undergone the
taxidermy process, shall be exempt from the provisions of this section and
subdivision A 11 of &#xA7; 29.1-521.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 29-164; 1962, c. 469; 1986, c. 182; 1987, c. 488; 1989,
c. 203; 1994, c. 848; 1997, c. 172; 2005, c. 170; 2007, c. 87; 2018, cc. 764,
765; 2020, cc. 89, 401.