That isn't a house cat scratching at the door.
Posted by Sardonicus on Thu 26 Sep 2002 - 06:25
While the folks in Quitman, Arkansas may be somewhat accustomed to dogs and cats wandering around their property, stray lions are something else. Over the past week, residents there have found themselves in the position of having to shoot and kill four lions that have been roaming the neighboring woods. Steve Henning, the proprietor of a nearby exotic animal farm, has stated that the lions don't belong to him, and has declared that they may have been dumped by an owner who had tried to give them to him previously. As he cannot provide the local law enforcement officals with a name or address for this person, his neighbors aren't inclined to take him at his word.
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Sardonicus — read stories — contact (login required)a veterinary assistant from Los Angeles
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I really hope Mister Henning is telling the truth. Either way, it's upsetting that the cats had to lose their lives because of some human's irresponsibility. It is so unfortunate that such animals have to endure such foolish humans at times. People that can't handle cats just shouldn't work with them, period.
-SW
You know, this hardly the first time folks have seen big kitties wandering about the US. The earliest I've ever heard of was 'Nellie the Lion' back in the 20's. It's been seriously suggested by several cryptozoologists that there may wel be a species of 'American Lion'. (Go look at either Coleman's Mysterious America or his Encyclopedia of the Unexplained for more on mystery cats).
Sorry that the cats were sain, but if they prove to be genetically different, then maybe we've found our feline cryptid at last!
ever hopeful,
Ardashir
Christ!
They didn't have to kill them!
Just stun them with a dart or something and bring them to a zoo or something.
They didn't have to kill them!
Just stun them with a dart or something and bring them to a zoo or something.
Check some of the other posters' links. Zoos generally won't want them.
The Curtis' (Mike and Carol, who run Shanda Fantasy Arts) actually live near where that happened. They posted about it on AFF a while back when it first occured.
Here's it on Google
Having listened to one man who shot 2 of the lions on the radio, he sounded genuinely upset that he had to destroy them. Unfortunately, capturing and dealing with these animals in a situation like that is near impossible. The preperation would be long enough to put residents at risk, most importantly their children. It's sad that they had to be killed (The man who shot two described them as beautiful animals) but sometimes that has to be done. It's more sad that they don't know who is responsible yet, and that Steve Henning is not being held responsible for his poor habitat management, even if the lions aren't his.
"and that Steve Henning is not being held responsible for his poor habitat management, even if the lions aren't his."
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Your reasoning skills astound me.
They wouldn't astound you, if you knew why people were blaming that man to begin with. The town has a beef with him over the proper management of his safari tours. For one thing, he has no barriers between the safari habitat and the town. So regardless of the lion issue, the man needs to own up to his irresponsibility. The story he gives is made less believable by his unwillingness to take proper precautions to avoid animal escapes.
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