Exotic Cat Shot And Killed In Moorpark, CA
Large Cat May Be One Spotted Over Weekend
Feb 23, 2005 7:03 am US/Pacific
MOORPARK, Calif. (AP) Authorities have shot and killed an exotic cat that was roaming the hills near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Trackers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services killed the cat in a rural area of Moorpark about 7 a.m.
The cat was shot a quarter of a mile from State Highway 23, several hundred yards from soccer and baseball fields, at the edge of a housing development.
The massive orange cat with black stripes appears to have been a tiger, but officials are not immediately confirming that.
The trackers had been looking for the animal for days, using infrared equipment at night. A helicopter airlifted the animal out of the brush.
Authorities had been tracking the cat ever since several sets of paw prints, far too large for native bobcats or mountain lions, were found on a ranch not far from the hilltop library early last week.
The size of the tracks indicated the animal was between 400 and 600 pounds.
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Nice Job..:rolleyes:
Again, Cah lee fuh nee ah law enforcement shoots first, asks questions later.
The CA Dept of Fish and Game knew this cat was loose but they end up killing the animal anyway. They were on scene with the CA Highway Patrol and some local police.
Over the past few years it seems they always send out a police sharpshooter to kill the animals....In the case of a mountain lion that HAS attacked someone I don't have any problem with that.
The thing that does bug me is the backslapping and high fiving that goes on afterwards.
In a few years the story will be that the animal charged towards the officer and he took him out in mid leap with teeth bared and claws flashing.....:rolleyes:
I thought that was ridiculous!
Why is animal life not valued like human life? I swear, some humans are so stupid, it's not hard for me to side with the animals in almost every case. This story was especially upsetting to me because Tigers hold a special place in my heart - that's the LSU mascot, and that's where I got my BA. We have a live tiger mascot - Mike V - he is treated so well - they're building him a huge sanctuary - he has his own pond, waterfall, air-conditioned room, play area right now, but it's going to be so much better for him - so much land to roam. I became even more aware of Tigers and their personalities and their endangerment statistics when I was attending school at LSU.
I just don't understand why they didn't tranquilize the poor tiger and transport it to a sanctuary where it can be properly released?!? Tigers are an endangered species! Why kill such beautiful animals? No one was hurt - no need to kill it. I can't believe some people believe the biggest cats can be pets - the person who was responsible for that cat should be held liable.
