Bear's Demise was handled poorly
03-21-2004, 04:30 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Da Burbs in North Rockland
Posts: 531
Bear's Demise was handled poorly
Article written by Barry and Pegi MacCartney in The Journal News, Rockland County Edition
"How many police officers does it take to kill a 350 pound black bear?Thats our question in response to the Dec. 25th article- "Police fatally shot bear after it kills dog." In New Jersey, it takes three--- two from Kinnelon and one from Bloomingdale and 23 rounds from assorted weapons. We all know a friend, family member or know of a good sized athlete who weighs 350 pounds. Should police start carrying bigger weapons, say .50 caliber machine guns or 20mm cannons? According to the Associated Press report published in The Journal News, which chose to print the story on Christmas day, the bear( while trying to protect the safety of its den) had fatally mauled a Yorkshire terrier, a dog the size of a rabbit. Police were summoned and after arriving the scene, Officer Jeffrey Pinksaw and Officer Sean Pataliata of the Kennelon Police Department and Officer Neil Keegstra of the Bloomingdale Police Department were face wiht a difficult decision. Is the bear aggressive or not? One would have to asume that it was by a joint decision by the police officers that the bear was determined to be a threat to the community. That decision gave them the authority to kill it. How-ever, according to the news story, the bear became agitated only after Keegstra shot the bear in the eye with a single shot blast from his 20-gauge shotgun. Patalita, who possessed a larger 12 gauge shot might have been able to stop the bear with one shot, but for some reason did not discarge that weapon. We certainly can understand the bear becoming "agitated" after getting a spray of bb's in the eye. Keegstra fired two more 20 gauge rounds into the bear. The bear then went after Pinksaw, who quickly drew his weapon and emptied 14 rounds from his 9mm handgun into the bear. That caused the bear to stumble and fall. The bear then managed to get up and run (?) toward the deck, where Patalita determined it was time to finish the animal off with three rounds from his 12 gauge shotgun. Tf you've been counting along, that's a total of 23 rounds. Couldn't this have been a quick kill rather than the slow,unnecessary, torturous death. Could the bear have been tranquilized and removed?You decide. If it had to be destroyed, how about an accurate take down shot or shots from police officers trained to do this sort of thing? Skilled hunters train and take down animals with a single shot to prevent unnecessary suffering. And on another note, just how longdid it take The Journal News readers to erase the image from their minds on Christmas day of the bloody, one-eyed, bullet riddled dead bear. It was later discovered that the animal, suffering from seasonal depression, had recently been released from a local zoo, was hopped up on mind-altering drugs and was wearing full body armor under his fur coat. The bear had expected to go out in a final blaze of glory, according to the note found in its den.
"How many police officers does it take to kill a 350 pound black bear?Thats our question in response to the Dec. 25th article- "Police fatally shot bear after it kills dog." In New Jersey, it takes three--- two from Kinnelon and one from Bloomingdale and 23 rounds from assorted weapons. We all know a friend, family member or know of a good sized athlete who weighs 350 pounds. Should police start carrying bigger weapons, say .50 caliber machine guns or 20mm cannons? According to the Associated Press report published in The Journal News, which chose to print the story on Christmas day, the bear( while trying to protect the safety of its den) had fatally mauled a Yorkshire terrier, a dog the size of a rabbit. Police were summoned and after arriving the scene, Officer Jeffrey Pinksaw and Officer Sean Pataliata of the Kennelon Police Department and Officer Neil Keegstra of the Bloomingdale Police Department were face wiht a difficult decision. Is the bear aggressive or not? One would have to asume that it was by a joint decision by the police officers that the bear was determined to be a threat to the community. That decision gave them the authority to kill it. How-ever, according to the news story, the bear became agitated only after Keegstra shot the bear in the eye with a single shot blast from his 20-gauge shotgun. Patalita, who possessed a larger 12 gauge shot might have been able to stop the bear with one shot, but for some reason did not discarge that weapon. We certainly can understand the bear becoming "agitated" after getting a spray of bb's in the eye. Keegstra fired two more 20 gauge rounds into the bear. The bear then went after Pinksaw, who quickly drew his weapon and emptied 14 rounds from his 9mm handgun into the bear. That caused the bear to stumble and fall. The bear then managed to get up and run (?) toward the deck, where Patalita determined it was time to finish the animal off with three rounds from his 12 gauge shotgun. Tf you've been counting along, that's a total of 23 rounds. Couldn't this have been a quick kill rather than the slow,unnecessary, torturous death. Could the bear have been tranquilized and removed?You decide. If it had to be destroyed, how about an accurate take down shot or shots from police officers trained to do this sort of thing? Skilled hunters train and take down animals with a single shot to prevent unnecessary suffering. And on another note, just how longdid it take The Journal News readers to erase the image from their minds on Christmas day of the bloody, one-eyed, bullet riddled dead bear. It was later discovered that the animal, suffering from seasonal depression, had recently been released from a local zoo, was hopped up on mind-altering drugs and was wearing full body armor under his fur coat. The bear had expected to go out in a final blaze of glory, according to the note found in its den.
03-24-2004, 08:16 AM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Walnut MS USA
Posts: 871
RE: Bear's Demise was handled poorly
This is a typical situation of the officers not having available the proper weapon for the job at hand. I have been in a similiar situation. Late one night a wild boar attacked out dog and ate her dog food. The wife peeked out the door and said there's a pig on the porch. I grabbed my .357 and tried to put down the boar with 190 gr. cast lead bullets. It took 3 shots to put him down for good. This boar only weighed approx. 140 lbs. had 3 inch tusks. There is normally any boars in the area I live for at least 75 miles. The neighbor got its mate 2 days later, one shot, 30-30. My wife has lived in this area for over 70 years and this was the first bosr she had ever seen.
Russ
Russ
