Vernon - The trial of four animal-rights activists ended on Aug. 31, with Judge C. William Bowkley Jr. handing out a jail sentence to one and stiff fines to all. The defendants had been arrested on Dec. 7, 2005 in Wawayanda State Park while protesting the week-long bear hunt during which hunters shot 297 bears, including 89 in Wawayanda. Defense attorney Gina Calogero asked the judge to stay the sentences, pending the results of a state court appeal. The second part of the trial took place one month after Vernon Township Prosecutor Robert D. Correale presented the case against Angi Metler, 49, of Vernon, director of the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance; Terry Fritzges, 57, of East Windsor; Albert Kazemian, 49, of Vernon; and Janet Piszar, 52, of Millburn. Police charged Kazemian with disorderly conduct, hunter harassment, obstruction of the administration of the law, resisting arrest and making terroristic threats, and the three others with disorderly conduct, hunter harassment, obstruction of the administration of the law, resisting arrest. The charges against Kazemian later were reduced to disorderly conduct. A fifth activist whose name was unknown at the time the others were arrested, was named during the trial as Susan Kehoe of Lake Wanda. She escaped arrest by running deep into the woods, according to the police report. Bowkley ordered Metler to spend 40 days in the county jail and to pay fines of $1,350 plus court costs after finding her guilty of obstruction, harassment and disorderly conduct. Metler merited the jail time, the judge said, because she had committed several similar offenses, including entrapping herself in a state bear trap in 2004. Kazemian was fined $2,100 for obstruction of administration of the law, hunter harassment, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Both Fritzges and Piszar were found guilty of obstruction of administration of the law and disorderly conduct, and each was fined $600. The events that led to the arrest of the four took place on the morning of Dec. 7, when N.J. State Park Police Officer Walter Sanford went undercover by donning hunting clothing and picking up a shotgun to accompany hunters William Devine and his son-in-law, Jon White. The hunters had complained about being berated by animal rights activists the previous day. Sanford said that although the activists were singing and shouting, they claimed to be on a bird-watching expedition. When the hunters approached the activists, they began to utter accusations and threats. When the language and threats appeared to be getting out of hand, Sanford said he decided to cut the situation short, reveal his identity and call for backup. In an interview the following day, hunter Jon White said that although he had hoped all four activists would be sentenced to time in jail, he thought the judge had been fair. “When the antis’ go about protesting in the wrong way, they need to suffer the consequences. Just as we must follow the law as hunters, so must they as protestors,” he said. Devine, White’s father-in-law added, “The state come up with the bear hunt. We’re just the hunters. Who are the antis’ to say it’s not right? The state could spend a lot of taxpayers’ money to neutralize the bears, but we hunters can do it for nothing.” In one year, Devine said, the bears replace themselves like a natural resource. “The smart ones live to reproduce more smart bears. The one that look back get shot, and the ones that run live to produce more runners,” he said. Devine said that he loves to get out in woods and listen to birds. “I heard the cry of a loon from Lake Wawayanda, and it reminded me of my boyhood camping with my dad on Lake George. It made my day,” he said. “If bears was scarce, then I’d be out there marching with Angela and the others.”