The Mountain Lion

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Thinking back through all of the events in 2004 that had meaning or an impact ( be it negative or positive ) on my life I'd have to say that one of the worst along with the loss of my dearest Gabby, Cool Dog and Bebe was the day a Mountain Lion got loose in our city.

It's a day I'll never forget and one that I wish could have ended differently, it was unfortunate that such a beautiful animal had to be owned by a true idiot and left myself and others to make a decision that we didn't want to make. I'd like to hear your comments, concerns and if you feel that I made a poor decision then please feel free to say so, I can promise you I won't be offended.

The story is retold below which was printed in our local paper.

A mountain lion on the loose in Fort Wayne Saturday night eluded police for several hours. It started just before 7 o'clock in the Northeast part of the city. A 4 year old mountain lion, named Samson, was being transported home from the St. Joe Center Veterinary Hospital. His owner, Gary Dutcher, slid off the road at Stellhorn and Lahmeyer and Samson escaped! The cat was loose in the car. He was not caged. The 150 pound lion headed North from the area. Police and Sheriff's officers joined Animal Care and Control and the D-N-R in the hunt. Just before 11 o'clock, officers found Samson hiding in some bushes near the accident site. It was shot twice with a tranquilizer, but the cat kept going. It made its way across Stellhorn Road toward some homes. Officers decided for safety reasons to shoot and kill the cat. Dutcher owns several mountain lions at his residence in Allen County. It is illegal to own predatory cats within the city limits.

[Pharlane]

Originally Posted by Crossfire Bulldogs

Thinking back through all of the events in 2004 that had meaning or an impact ( be it negative or positive ) on my life I'd have to say that one of the worst along with the loss of my dearest Gabby, Cool Dog and Bebe was the day a Mountain Lion got loose in our city.

It's a day I'll never forget and one that I wish could have ended differently, it was unfortunate that such a beautiful animal had to be owned by a true idiot and left myself and others to make a decision that we didn't want to make. I'd like to hear your comments, concerns and if you feel that I made a poor decision then please feel free to say so, I can promise you I won't be offended.

The story is retold below which was printed in our local paper.

A mountain lion on the loose in Fort Wayne Saturday night eluded police for several hours. It started just before 7 o'clock in the Northeast part of the city. A 4 year old mountain lion, named Samson, was being transported home from the St. Joe Center Veterinary Hospital. His owner, Gary Dutcher, slid off the road at Stellhorn and Lahmeyer and Samson escaped! The cat was loose in the car. He was not caged. The 150 pound lion headed North from the area. Police and Sheriff's officers joined Animal Care and Control and the D-N-R in the hunt. Just before 11 o'clock, officers found Samson hiding in some bushes near the accident site. It was shot twice with a tranquilizer, but the cat kept going. It made its way across Stellhorn Road toward some homes. Officers decided for safety reasons to shoot and kill the cat. Dutcher owns several mountain lions at his residence in Allen County. It is illegal to own predatory cats within the city limits.

We get them here in Washington state....

[Carrie]

What a shame. Yes, they're here in north Idaho too, but rarely seen as there is so much wilderness for them. That's where they belong, not in some human's possession.

[DarknessDivine]

Why do people think they can own these animals? In the end it's always the same the animal loses it's life..Some humans have no grasp of reality.

[oc_spirit]

Personally I don't think proper action was taken, if the cat was desensitized to humans then it would be very easy to trap it however I can understand why they did it as many ill decisions are made when under pressure.

I too agree that people shouldn't own wild animals as pets. To have a rescue for them with properly sized cages and with the proper education is fine by me and I support it too, but to get a kit because you think it's cute, and would be "cool" to own such a powerful and unique animal is pure foolishness!

Cheers!

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Originally Posted by oc_spirit

Personally I don't think proper action was taken, if the cat was desensitized to humans then it would be very easy to trap it however I can understand why they did it as many ill decisions are made when under pressure.

I too agree that people shouldn't own wild animals as pets. To have a rescue for them with properly sized cages and with the proper education is fine by me and I support it too, but to get a kit because you think it's cute, and would be "cool" to own such a powerful and unique animal is pure foolishness!

Cheers!

Actually Ren the cat was far from good with humans; Sampson was very aggressive towards anyone other than his owner and had never been worked with at all, the reason he was taken to the vet was for a large laceration to his tail and he'd been heavily sedated almost to the point of not being able to stand when he was taken in.

The biggest problem was that the goof of an owner had been stuck in that ditch ( he was intoxicated ) for almost three hours giving the medication plenty of time to wear off and since the cat wasn't caged in the vehicle when the owner opened the door of the car, Sampson now feeling very much like himself, pushed past his owner and fled.

On further investigation we found another adult female at his home, two kits and 5 smaller cats, unfortunatly their breed name escapes me at the moment. These animals were confiscated and after several months of the court process they were then sent to a reserve in another state.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Originally Posted by DarknessDivine

Why do people think they can own these animals? In the end it's always the same the animal loses it's life..Some humans have no grasp of reality.

I don't understand it either; I've never believed that a wild animal should be caged or kept and although I know that there are some that need our help and couldn't survive in the wilds I can't see keeping a perfectly healthy wild animal just because someone finds it "cool." It isn't cool is just plain cruel!

[sthrnbelle]

I hate to hear that Samson had to die...but I am so glad the other cats are now somewhere safe. That man sounds like the biggest idiot!

[oc_spirit]

Oh Sonja, the article didn't specify whether or not Sampson was good with humans so I just assumed he was since he was living in such close proximity to them. I'm glad the other felines didn't have to die

Cheers!

[Rip's Girl]

How sad, that Samson had to pay for his owner's stupidity. I also don't understand why people feel that they need to own wild animals.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Oh I know Ren, there was plenty that the news didn't go into on the owner, most of which I'm unable to release as well as the information on the cats.

The set up this goof had for his cats consisted of an 800 square foot excercise area fenced and topped with CHIKEN WIRE and sleeping quarters attached to it which was his two car garage. The whole area was fenced in with an eight foot privacy fence and sat right smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood in city limits.

The cats had nothing to climb on, nothing to play with and it appeared they also had very little attention.

The neighbors on both sides of him have small children that play outside, can you imagine how bad it could have been if one of the cats decided to get out while the children were outside playing? Chicken wire and a privacy fence is NOT going to keep a big cat in if they want out bad enough.

We did not intend on killing this cat; we were keeping our eye on it, shutting down traffic areas and waiting for the tranquilizers to take effect. After a half hour or so it still didn't seem to have any effect and we were told that any more medication would kill the cat which is what we wanted to avoid.

It wasn't until it ran from the bushes and charged us ( we were about a block and a half from him ) that a decision had to be made, he was running towards us and another residential neighborhood that was directly behind us that was also attached to a shopping center. Shots weren't fired until the cat was within ten feet of us....we had really hoped by blowing air horns and making as much noise as possible the he would turn and run the way he came but it didn't happen.

I wasn't going to put all the additional in the post as I thought it would make it too long but I guess it does explain things a bit better.