[aarealskei]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, so if it's not, then hopefully it will be moved to the correct location.

Tonight I watched the local news in horror as they showed TX Wildlife dragging an alligator behind a truck and then shooting it to death in front of children and adults. Apparently, this gator wandered into a neighborhood, so TX Wildlife was called in hopes of having the gator relocated. I was never more mortified to see such blatant abuse as this. If anyone is interested in learning more, the news channel that aired this was channel 2 in Houston TX. (NBC)

 

[That Alpaca Guy]

This is unbelievable!

 

[aarealskei]

I think I was even more upset to see the news actually air the video of this animal's abuse. It's one thing to inform the public, but it's another to be so graphic. I can't even begin to say how many times they showed the alligator being drug behind the truck. What a tragedy.

 

[GhostUser]

What was the focus of the story? I.e., did they cover it as something that should NOT have happened?

 

[aarealskei]

The news station basically reported the story pretty matter-of-fact like. They didn't appear to take sides with anyone. What bothered me the most was the fact that the news channel aired clips of the alligator being drug behind the truck during commercial time in between television programs. It was like they were using this incident to draw a larger audience to watch their news coverage. I believe in being informed, but not to the point where it loses it's importance. I hope this explanation makes sense.

 

[Strix]

I saw that too. It was awful. The parents interviewed were very upset and made statements like, "...this was animal abuse..." And they were horrified that their children were traumatized. The children were crying and frightened...The parents and neighborhood children had all come out of their houses, brought out cameras, and videos. It was described as a neat thing to see an alligator in the middle of their street. It was an exciting thing, in other words. Then to have that happen and right in front of everyone, including the children really angered the people.

The head of the Wildlife-whatever said they were going to look into the allegations because dragging an animal like that and killing it, etc., was definitely against their policy and not a practice they engage in. Hmmm... I hate to say it, but I don't necessarily take that at face value. Maybe it was just lucky that someone got it on tape. I am glad that the parents were so angry though, and that they called it animal abuse.

So sad. I teared up watching it; I can imagine those poor children.

 

[GhostUser]

The person(s) who did that should be facing some jail time, in my opinion.

 

[Thalia]

That's sickening.

Forunately they did not escape the radar of AR

http://www.peta.org/alert/automation...tem.asp?id=716

And if you go to the message board on the local news site linked to in the peta link, the locals seem to be pretty mad, too.

 

[Skylark]

Sounds to me like that news agency has lost its social responsibility focus. There's an awful lot of crap in journalism, as everywhere. The worldview-shaping responsibility is one I don't take lightly as a journalism student.

 

[aarealskei]

Thanks, Thalia, for the report from PETA. The news only said the incident occured in Ft. Bend Co, which could encompass any number of cities. Peta mentioned that it was Katy, TX, and that is where I live. It enrages me even more to think that such a thing occured. My 6 yr old is always commenting on how quickly the land out here is being gobbled up in order to build more houses. (we are one of the fastest growing areas around) She has expressed her concern on numerous occasions that she is worried about the animals and where they are going to live. One of the main reasons we moved out here was because there were so many fields and so much wildlife, and now...it, too, is rapidly disappearing. So sad...we saw some very scared deer one day wondering across the street of a neighborhood - it's so obvious that our wildlife have no where to go, no wonder that poor alligator found it's way into a neighborhood. People tend to forget that we are the ones who are invading the space of these animals...where does everyone expect them to go.....Sorry...this is my "soap box" subject...didn't mean to go off.

 

[GhostUser]

Yes, a while ago an aquaintance remarked to me that she doesn't have any problem with wildlife, as long as the animals stay out of her yard. I responded by saying that that was pretty funny, since the wildlife probably had the same reaction when humans moved into the neighborhood. She gave me a blank look, so I explained that, after all, the wildlife was there first.

 

[aarealskei]

So, true, Mouse....

Tonight, the same news channel reported that PETA had gotten involved in the alligator incident. (funny that I heard about the PETA thing on this site first) They also stated that TX Wildlife stands by the actions of the game warden. What a terrible shame.

 

[dk_art]

Again the lazy , not-giving-a-damn attitude prevails. There were other ways to deal with this and to resort to the laziest and most cruel way is a sign of someone who should not have any responsibility with dealing with people or other animals.

Fire, fine and jail the moron!

It's also a disgrace that the wildlife people stand by and support such things ...

 

[Thalia]

This is beside the point, but I did see in the video on the local news report, that people were letting their kids go up to it with their bikes and stuff. It seemed pretty docile, but really...

Yes, if the guy did not have the proper equipment or help, he should have gotten it. If he feared for the people, he could have told them to stand back. he didn't know how to do his job and thought he could just half-*ss it, not giving a sh** about the alligator. Exactly right, dk, the guy was just lazy.

 

[aarealskei]

My husband and I were discussing the subject and he brought up a good point. The fact that this alligator was so docile made him wonder if this could have been someone's pet at one time. I also thought of something...if this alligator was such a threat, then how did the guy from TX Wildlife manage to put the rope around the alligator without anyone reporting a struggle?? This entire incident is a bit fishy smelling to me.

 

[GhostUser]

Almost the worst thing about this entire incident is that Texas Wildlife finds this to be appropriate action by their employee. It makes me wonder what other atrocities are being committed that aren't in the public eye.