I find it very interesting that a tiger had to be put down this past week -considering I just had to put down two of my beloved cats this past weekend. Am I sad about it? You bet. I hurt terribly. But then I hear about this shameful “vigil” conducted in the name of the tiger?! Here are some of the news stories and their headline titles:
Death of a Tiger
(MSNBC.com)
Necropsy finds tiger killed near Reagan library was declawed
(HeraldTribune.com)
-Does anyone know what a “necropsy” is? It’s another word for an autopsy. Why is there two words for the same thing? Because English is stupid!!!
Vigil protests tiger shooting
(DailyNews.com)
Now I know that it’s sad that they had to do this but I also completely understand their reasoning. I’m sure they’d not be that well treated if the Fish and Game officers had only used a tranq. dart and managed to get the tiger to panic and maul a few kids at the nearby park. Still, some of the statements by these protesters are just incredible. Everything from “trigger happy” on down. They have questioned weather they even had a tranquilizer dart gun in their possessions! Simply incredible. I’m sure these protesters were assuming that the Fish and Game officers were happy they had killed another animal. Now I’m outraged. Not at the death of this animal (“majestic beast” as described in several of the write-ups) but at the simple disregard for the value of human life over those of animals. Yes, that’s right. Human life is more valuable than animal life in my book. If you don’t like it, fine –but your wrong!
Ok, so the animal was found to be declawed. Did they know that before they shot it? No. So the animal was found to be well-fed when they did their examination and only 450lbs instead of the 600lbs they assumed it to be. So what? Was there still a risk that this “majestic beast” could hurt people in the immediate area? You bet! The Tiger that mauled his master Roy Horn in Las Vegas in 2003 was about the same weight (470 I believe). I’m sure if these protesters were on the street in the immediate proximity to the tiger that day, not knowing how heavy, how well fed, or if it had claws, would have the same feelings (but I’ve been surprised before).
And I know why the owner of the tiger didn’t come forward and help in the recovery. They feared legal ramifications coming their way for letting the animal out -and rightfully so. As of today, I believe the owners have already been caught and are being investigated.
Don’t think tigers are that big of a deal? Here’s a list of recent mountain lion attacks in California (mind you, mountain lions aren’t nearly as big or as powerful as tigers):
Verified Mountain Lion Attacks on Humans in California (1890 through 2004)
California Department of Fish and Game (dfg.ca.org)
List of Mountain Lion Attacks On People in California
Field Guide to the San Gabriel Mountains (tchester.org)
Note the fact that attacks are on a considerable rise as of the past few years. I’m sure this information was on the minds of the Fish and Game officers on the scene.
Lastly, I was encouraged to read that there was a small amount of “counter-protesters” there at the vigil as well. My only beef with them was that their main argument was pretty weak. They were there to point out the fact that 115 people died in Iraq this very day so have some perspective. Well I don’t believe this vigil was meant to ignore that fact -nor was the new organizations all over California. They reported the terrorist attack pretty well. But the fact that they were angry that this tiger was taken down more than the breakdown of the public safety is beyond me. And to assume that the Fish and Game officers WANTED to kill this animal is just beyond the pale.