Posted on 04/11/2005 8:33:05 AM PDT by Dubya
FORT WORTH - When the skinned carcass of an animal was found last year in downtown, the Humane Society asked police and the public to help find whoever committed such a seemingly cruel crime.
Rewards were offered and a necropsy was conducted on the animal, thought to be a dog. It turned out to be a coyote, and it had been shot to death before being skinned. The body was found Feb. 7, 2004, at the Bank One reconstruction site.
As police and animal-rights groups worked the case, a surprising revelation surfaced.
"One of the construction workers at the site admitted he had placed the coyote there as a practical joke," said Lou Guyton, southwest regional director of The Humane Society of the United States. "It wasn't very funny."
Authorities learned that the construction worker could not be charged with a crime. "Because the dog was actually a coyote, and because it had been shot before it was skinned, there was no legal recourse," Guyton said.
That and other such recent incidents, like the shooting and decapitation of a feral cat in Waco, have led to a bill in the Legislature that would extend an animal-cruelty law from domestic pets to wild animals. House Bill 590, sponsored by Rep. Fred Brown, R-Brazos, is in committee.
"Torture for any animal," Guyton reasoned, "is unacceptable." Jack Douglas Jr., (817) 390-7700 jld@star-telegram.com
You've got to be freakin' KIDDING ME! This is a joke, right? In TEXAS....
Our "law makers" need to get a real job.
Torture for ANY animal is unacceptable but so is coyotes living in the inner city in Houston. I have heard from LE that people living near Memorial Park are losing small pets to coyotes.
So if a Coyote is on my property, attacking my pet or my child, and I SHOOT it, I could be charged? Hogwash!
So, they want to outlaw killing wild animals? That means we won't need our guns for hunting anymore right? And if we don't need our guns for hunting and the nanny state is gonna ensure our safety and freedom, well, gee, we don't need guns at all.
Sound like I may be on the right (or leftist) track with my thinking?
I can't believe this article is from Texas. Sounds like they would try this in one of the communist states on the coast first.
You are right.
Amendment XIX ping.
There are plenty of coyotes living in NW Austin feasting on Fluffy and Spot and anything else that they can find.
I live in Fort Worth, I see coyotes, rabbits, etc. I am more concerened about "Yahoo Billy Bob" and his shotgun killing animals when children are near by, more so then the animals. Kids play outside all of the time and havent had any problems with coyotes, and my fat cat who goes outside hasnt had a problem either. Im all for relocating them, but really there is more stuff in the area to concentrate on then this. Relocate the coyote, tell "Yahoo Billy Bob" not to play with his gun (esp. after drinking, because it isnt a joke), and move on. And I am definitely all for protecting your family BY ALL MEANS NECCESARY.
Our politicians are the biggest joke there is.
I wonder how this bill reads and how it affects hunting. I am really not a big supporter of people that get off on killing and skinning cyotes as a joke. I also loathe people that keep pit-bulls as 'pets'. The bible actually mentions heathen cruelty to animals.
-I wonder if they feel the same about mice and rats-
They ARE mice and rats.
Has someone in your neighborhood actually shot animals with a shotgun when children are playing nearby? What is the lot size in your neighborhood?
I wonder if they feel the same about mice and rats
If this law passed in Texas, then the best way to handle it is to flood the phone lines to the police department everytime a coyote (or other furry creature) comes in or near your yard.
It wouldn't take long before they either 1:repeal the law or 2: make it against the law to call 911 about (wild animals).
Probably #2
Don't know what your coyotes are eating, but a pack of coyotes caught and killed our cat behind our house in the Houston suburbs. Coyotes are still in the area as I have seen and heard them.
In our case, we now keep the new cat indoors. We also have a fence around the yard, which protects our dogs from the coyotes.
On the good news side, the coyotes do enforce the "leash laws" for pets. Free roaming pets are "dinner."
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