NEBRASKA -- The Cassgram reports the female emu that had been loose after getting away from her owner near Louisville was sighted in Plattsmouth about 9:45 a.m. Friday, in the vicinity of the old Wintersteen school building. Plattsmouth Animal Control and police responded.
Several minutes later the large flightless bird native to Australia was spotted on Lincoln Avenue.
Animal control and police surrounded the bird in their vehicles and tried to keep it in a clearing. City worker Brian Wagner assisted in the herding on foot. On a couple different occasions the bird walked into Rhylander Park.
It was about 11:30 a.m. when a report was given that indicated the bird had been shot and killed.
The Friday before, May 8th, sheriff’s deputies and Terry Grell on horseback—the man who roped the roaming and elusive bovine dubbed “Ninja Cow” a couple years ago—unsuccessfully attempted to capture the bird in the area of Beach Road north of Plattsmouth. Pictures had been forwarded to Cassgram of the bird in the River Road area in the days since.
Animal Control Officer Sue Baker investigated the use of a tranquilizer gun but Police Chief Steve Rathman said no other agency was willing to come and help.
Rathman said he learned emus can “get spooked and become aggressive” so he was worried about the danger to people at ball games and activities at the park if the emu stayed in the area. Emus have sharp heals and can kick very hard.
Captain Dave Lamprecht of the Cass County Sheriff’s Department said he had talked to Omaha Police about an emu capture there some time ago and found out that bird had been placed in a horse trailer and dented out the sides with its kicks.
[Ooh. Hey, I heard that you could get struck by lightning. You could get hit by a car. You could get stung by a bee.... Everybody panic!]
Determining there was a risk to the public’s safety the chief ordered officers to humanely destroy the animal. The owner, who was on scene, agreed with the decision, said Rathman. The owner took the carcass.
(WOWT - May 16, 2014)
Sorry but I go with the police on this one. I'm Australian and these birds should not be underestimated. First cornering it puts people at real risk, they are more than capable of opening someone up from chin to groin when they are trying to protect themselves. They are also not an animal that naturally herds so containment is very difficult and if by some chance you did manage to get it on a horse trailer the stress often kills these birds. They require a completly dark trailer to transport, and they should be loaded just before dawn or just after dusk. If the owner could not be located to manage the bird then putting it down was likely the only really viable option left. (Shooting it would be required as you won't get close to it unless it knows you extremely well) I'm afraid few options were left to the police. If they persisted in trying to capture or contain it someone was likely to get hurt and the stress on the bird would likely kill it anyway. If they left it to roam curious members of the public are just as likely to get hurt or the bird ends up being chased by dogs. This was not going to end well in any senario.
ReplyDeleteOh and rember the owner was on the scene when they destroyed the bird and agreed wit the assessment. (Most likely because they know these birds) a traquilizer also would not have worked as the drugs are designed for mammals and most likely would have killed the bird any way.
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