FILLMORE : Animal Advocates Decry Cougar Kill

Animal-rights advocates on Thursday expressed shock and outrage over Wednesday’s killing of a mountain lion by federal Department of Agriculture trackers.

Madeline Bernstein of the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said officials should better educate residents of hillside neighborhoods about leaving food outside, rather than kill cougars scrounging for sustenance.

“If you don’t want the visitors, don’t extend the invitation,” she said. “Any food in the yard is going to attract wildlife.”

Federal officials tracked and killed a 130-pound mountain lion at the request of state Department of Fish and Game wardens, who said the cat attacked an 85-pound dog near Fillmore earlier in the day.

A 7-year-old Labrador mix was snatched by the cougar early Wednesday morning but was rescued by its owner. The canine needed about 50 stitches, the owner said.

State wardens suspect the giant cat was responsible for a series of similar attacks in the Fillmore area over the past three months.

But Bernstein said most of the mountain lions, raccoons, skunks and other animals that make their way into populated neighborhoods are merely looking for food.

“They’re hungry,” she said. “They don’t know that they’ve stumbled into a new gated community.”

Instead of killing the creatures, Bernstein said, officials should relocate the wild animals to areas where they will not be harmed.

Fish and Game wardens said they had the mountain lion killed because it posed a danger to residents and their pets.