HARRISBURG – A civil lawsuit has been filed against the owner of a Wyoming County taxidermy business following numerous consumer complaints alleging that the business accepted payments from consumers and failed to provide customers with their prepared “trophies.”
Acting Attorney General Bill Ryan identified the defendant as Cyndi Polinski, who is the owner of “WildThing Taxidermy,” RR2, Harvey’s Lake, Wyoming County.
Ryan said that the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection received at least 50 consumer complaints alleging that Polinski accepted payments for the preparation and mounting of various animal trophies and later failed to provide the customers with their items.
According to the lawsuit, many of the animals were deer, bear and fish, but also included exotic animals such as a jaguar, a koala and a coyote.
The lawsuit states that consumers provided Polinski with at least $14,000 in deposits and payments to have their animals mounted. Polinski allegedly performed minimal work on the animals or failed to perform any work at all after receiving the deposits.
Ryan said the lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction to prevent Polinski from operating her business in Pennsylvania, as well as civil penalties and consumer restitution.
The lawsuit was handled by Senior Deputy Attorney General J.P. McGowan of Ryan’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. The case was filed in the Wyoming County Court of Common Pleas.
Consumers who believe they may be entitled to restitution in this case are urged to contact the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection at 1-800-441-2555 or by filing an online complaint at www.attorneygeneral.gov.
