Letters: Killing a mountain lion

Re “Officials defend decision to kill mountain lion,” May 23

Once again, trigger-happy law enforcement can be counted on to take the easy way out. Trapped in a courtyard, a mountain lion is shot with tranquilizer darts, which are ineffective. So then they scare the lion by dousing it with a fire hose? Shameful.

Clearly, the state needs an agency that is properly trained to deal with situations like this. By the way, I don’t consider an animal that is gunned down to be “euthanized.”

John Papsys

Pasadena

Last I heard, mountain lions were not instructed on how to react to being hit with tranquilizer darts. All this mountain lion knew was that it felt a sharp pain and had to escape.

Hose down a cat? I don’t think so. I recently coped with an enraged domestic-size feral cat, and when it was trapped in a cage to be picked up by animal control officials, it fought furiously for hours. That cat was small but still quite ferocious.

I think the officers did the right thing. Those decrying their actions likely have never seen a cat enraged, trapped, desperate or fighting for what it believes is its life. It’s better to err on the side of public safety.

Elinor Hite

Carrollton, Texas

The clumsy efforts by Santa Monica officials to relocate the mountain lion resulted in the lion’s needless death. Their actions only frightened the lost animal more. There are experts who know how to handle these situations in a humane way. Why is killing the only option?

Bill Dyer

Venice

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