Animal Lovers Distraught at Bear’s Death : Wildlife: Killing in Azusa prompts numerous calls. A majority on a radio talk show seemed to agree with the decision, but police say many were upset.

When police shot and killed a lumbering bear as it caroused through an Azusa neighborhood, they downed the animal but touched a nerve: Images of the furry creature lying dead in the street incensed some animal lovers and lit up switchboards Saturday at a local radio talk show as well as at the beleaguered Police Department.

“We’re hearing quite a bit about it,” said Sgt. James Collins, a watch commander at the Azusa Police Department and the officer who was in charge of the bear-shooting scene Friday. “They’re upset the bear got killed. Well, we’re upset the bear got killed, too.”

At KFI radio, talk show host Bill Press stirred the pot by suggesting that police were wrong to kill the animal, a 350-pound California black bear that had wandered out of Angeles National Forest and into an Azusa carport. When the bear shrugged off two tranquilizer darts and slipped past two police cars, four shotgun-wielding police officers cut short its gambol.

One caller to Press’ show compared the plight of the bear to that of Native Americans crowded out by white settlers. A few others joined in and criticized the police for snuffing out what seemed to them a lovable creature.

Overall, however, Press was outvoted. Station officials said most calls ran in favor of killing the bear rather than letting it stroll through the community.

Try telling that to Joel, who was working the cash register at the Upstart Crow, a bookstore and coffeehouse that carries a series of books in which the featured bears are the teddy-bear kind, not the big, lumbering type that wander into neighborhoods uninvited.

“I think it’s kind of awful that they shot it,” said Joel, who did not want his last name used. “There are certain ways that we should conduct ourselves as human beings. They should have netted this bear or something.”

On busy Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, less than a mile south of Angeles National Forest, some Saturday night strollers echoed his passion. Those who had seen television coverage of the bear shooting thought that Azusa police overreacted. For them, the bear’s death sparked heated opinions.

“I was shocked that they shot the bear,” said Jeff Schrier, 25, of Studio City. “It didn’t look like it was going to hurt anybody.”

“I saw the TV and the bear was just ambling along,” said Mary Phillips, 57, of Oxnard.

Scott Mann, 27, of Los Angeles said experts on bear behavior should have been called to the scene.

But mention of the bear prompted debate among some couples. When Alvin Bracewell, 41, of Los Angeles suggested that more tranquilizer darts should have been used, his companion, Tracy Frazier, 28, of Los Angeles interrupted. “I think you really have to take into consideration the homeowner, the neighborhood, the children and safety,” she said.

Back at the police station, Collins conceded that most callers were closer to Joel’s view of the incident than the police’s.

“They want to know why we didn’t dart it more, why we let it get out of the containment,” Collins said. “They don’t realize how strong and powerful these animals are.”

Still, Collins added that by afternoon, the calls were beginning to taper off and a few voices of support were making their way through. “About one out of every 10 is somebody saying: ‘You guys did the right thing,’ ” Collins said. “It’s nice to know somebody has some common sense.”