Mountain Lion Chased by Dog, Then Killed

PALO ALTO, Calif. - A mountain lion that had prowled the streets of residential Palo Alto for hours was shot and killed Monday after a dog chased it up a tree.


An 11-year-old black Labrador named Kelsy caught scent of the big cat and bolted for it, chasing it up a tree until police arrived, according to the dog's owner, John Furrier.


"She had a ferocious growl that we've never heard before," Furrier said of Kelsy. "I think she's a hero. I think she could have saved some lives."


Police had been on the lookout for the lion after it was spotted earlier in the day. Officers who arrived to find it in the tree didn't have a tranquilizer gun, and the animal started to run off, so they decided to bring it down, said Capt. Torin Fischer.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=816&ncid=816&e=4&u=/ap/20040517/ap_on_fe_st/mountain_lion_killed

Yep, kill that ole lion before he eats Fido. Doesn't matter humans are taking over.

If it was trying to get away, why did they have to shoot it?

But I can see why they did. I think if one of those things were running around my neighborhood and they didn't have a tranquilizer gun, I'd want them to put it down, too.

Mountain lions are very shy, and will almost always try to run away from humans. If it was running away, they could have followed it to make sure it was leaving town.

Just imagine if it would have attacked somebody while they knew it was wandering around town. What would they have to say about the cops then?

As far as the police responsibility goes...lifeguards on the coast of California know that there are sharks in the water....if someone gets bit is it their negligence?

Mountain lions are indigenous to vast areas of the American landscape.
WE have encroached on THEM. Seems to me, it should be at OUR peril, not theirs.

Sheesh, I grew up there. I don't remember anything remotely like wilderness around there, all just suburban sprawl (although, I must say, very NICE suburban sprawl, about as attractive as such communities can be). Where did this cat come from? I thought they needed fairly large territories to roam around in.

We used to see them when we went camping in the Laguna Mts. east of San Diego, but that was in the middle of large, undeveloped areas. I've heard of them coming down into neighborhoods that border wilderness areas in LA and San Bernardino counties... but PALO ALTO?!? Where the hell was he living, in a dorm on the Stanford campus?!??!?!?

He had the encounter with a panther six months ago. All of the hair in his back turned gray within two weeks of that encounter.

poor poor kitty. Reminds me of my dad's bumper sticker. "Looking for your cat, try under my tires"

they couldn't stun and relocate the animal to another habitat. Eventually these will be endangered animals like all the other big cats and, for that matter, wolves, who serve as "predators" in the outer suburbs.