TEXAS -- Waxahachie police officers shot an emu after unsuccessful attempts to restrain the animal. Police received a request for assistance from Animal Control at 9:03 a.m. on Aug. 27 in the 1300 block of Wyatt Street.
“A motorist was driving by in the 1300 block of Wyatt and he spotted what he believed to be an ostrich and reported (it) was loose,” Senior Animal Control Officer Warren Howell said. “So I responded over to the area to verify and it ended up being an emu in the area. I called for assistance from other animal control officers and the police department, just to help contain the animal where it was.”
Emus can be more than six feet tall and can reach speeds of 55 mph.
Howell said once he received assistance and had enough people there to maintain the perimeter he moved in to safely catch the bird. He went calmly behind the bird reaching around and grabbing the bird by the wings.
By approaching the emu from behind, Howell explained, it prevents a person from being kicked. Emus can’t kick backward because their legs bend at the front.
“I was able to grab hold and get control at that time. Unfortunately the bird did not want to get in the back of the truck and was able to push off the back of the tailgate where I lost control of it,” Howell said. “It was more apprehensive about us walking behind it and catching it at that point. We had to follow it through the neighborhood until we finally ended up on East Ross Street.”
Waxahachie Police Lt. Todd Woodruff said the emu fled through a tree line behind a residence and exited in the front of some homes in the 100 block of Peters St. Officers were able to corner it in the driveway of a home in the 900 block of East Ross St.
“That is where we thought that it would be contained. All of us tried to approach and contain it within that property. The bird was acting agitated because he was in a flight mode,” Howell said. “There is a citizen that lives on the property that is an elderly man, who stepped out of his workshop and did not realize what was going on. Once he stepped out, it pretty much changed everything. The emu was acting like he was going to stand his ground more at this point.”
The officers again attempted to restrain the bird and Howell received several scratches and was kicked by the bird. He only suffered minor injuries.
The emu had charged at the Howell and the other officers several times in order to get past them. Howell said the decision to put down the animal was made by him, and he requested a police officer put down the emu. This decision was made because of the danger the animal posed to the public.
“I was simply acting on the safety of the citizen. When my life and well-being became endangered that is when I requested the officer to shoot the bird. There is no way that I could safely get away from this animal in the predicament that I was in,” Howell said. “We used every form of non-lethal force up to that point that we had at our disposal. It was only when the citizen stepped out and was introduced into the situation. It was for that citizen’s safety from that point on.”
Howell added animals such as emus are prohibited in the city because of the danger they pose. They are also not indigenous to the area and are considered to be exotic animals.
Officers have been unable to determine where the emu came from or who if the owner is aware the bird was loose.
(Waxahachie Daily Light - Sept 2, 2014)
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