Bullet to head killed wayward sea lion

The spunky California sea lion named for his eight-day romp by Petaluma stores and businesses died from a gunshot wound, Marine Mammal Center officials said Wednesday.

A necropsy conducted on “Shopper” Tuesday night showed a bullet from a large caliber gun shot at close range had traveled through the 7-foot, 286-pound sea lion’s head, near his left eye.

“I’m utterly disgusted. It makes me absolutely sick to my stomach,” said Kerry Macleod, a manager at Cycle West motorcycle shop in Petaluma, where the sea lion spent two days frolicking in the parking lot.

Shopper was found dead Tuesday at a St. Helena winery, two weeks after the 6-year-old sea lion had been rescued from the Cycle West parking lot and returned to the Pacific Ocean with two yearling sea lions.

He was the eighth sea lion this year brought to the nonprofit Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito with gunshot wounds, said spokesman Jim Oswald. Last year, about 60 sea lions were gunshot victims.

“When you shoot any type of mammal at close range and especially in the face area, it’s not accidental,” Oswald said. “For lack of a better term, I would call them mean-spirited people who see animals and take pot shots at them.”

<snip>

http://pressdemocrat.com/pmextra/#link2

I'm really mad now.

UTTERLY disgusting. Completely helpless. At least it sounds like it was painless. God.

Violence against animals is a precursor to murder of humans. The sociopath that perpetrated this crime needs to be hunted down and prosecuted with extreme prejudice.

WTF? Who shoots a sea lion?

Am I a horrible person for hoping that the asshole who did this meets a very interesting end?


Mary

more likely commercial fishers. Sea lions have a habit of stealing fish from the lines of sport and commercial fishers. Not that I in any way condone, nor am I making excuses for the shooting of sea mammals, but I don't think these were done by some sicko looking for kicks.