Thursday, July 30, 2015

Lion still on the loose

Yep, the combined forces of the Milwaukee Police and the Dept of Natural Resources, plus who knows who else, have been unsuccessful in capturing lion that is (supposedly) on the loose in the northern section of the city.

So far, the sequence goes a little like this: Law enforcement didn't take the report(s) too seriously; law enforcement finally decided to take a good look; one cop thought he saw a "lion-like" animal; it could be a pet lion that escaped (apparently, we are one of six states that still allow these kinds of "exotic" pets - all I know is that my HOA would not approve a lion); a "witness" saw the lion with a cub; they finally put out live traps yesterday - but remove them overnight; law enforcement is blaming "noisy onlookers" for lack of progress on capture.

Oh - and early on, a pitbull was shot in the leg because an overzealous neighbor thought it was the lion. Not only is that guy's aim off, his whole thinking process is messed up (why yes, shoot at the giant, toothy, wild animal - that will surely make it lay down and give up!).

But if nothing else, the fiasco has spawned a number of rather funny jokes on social media.

MKE Lion: I will definitely be leaving town before the NFL season kicks off. Lions don't fare well in Wisconsin, as any Packers' fan can tell you.

MKE Lion: (speaking of the New Berlin Lion's Club stand at the State Fair, starting soon) I can't wait for the State Fair. It's my favorite event of the season. Please stop by and support this worthy cause and get some delicious Wisconsin Corn on the Cob. I plan on ducking out after my volunteer shift to check out the appetizers, I mean contestants, yeah that's it, contestants... at the pig races.

Thank heavens the Milwaukee PD has a "no high speed pursuit" policy. ‪#‎cantcatchme

As long as there aren't any former Minnesota dentists on the Mke police force I'm feeling OK here.

I'm confused so we are supposed to #eatlocals?

And oh, my, the photoshopped pictures! That lion not only gets around, he's apparently visited many local tourist attractions, even going to Wolski's and getting the famed "I closed Wolski's" bumper sticker on his, um, "bumper".

On the serious side, a whole lot of public-money expense has gone into this fruitless search. When (if) they catch this thing, the next task is to figure out how it came to be loose in the city. If this is indeed an exotic pet that got away (or was released - can you imagine the grocery bill to feed one of these?) - you can bet the owner will eventually be charged with something or other, fined and ordered to repay the costs of the search.

Hopefully, this will be resolved soon. It's using a lot of media space that could go to more serious subjects.

1 comment:

melissa said...

I don't know what to say. That it's still on the loose is sort of amazing. That folks are so dim-witted as to not finding it, not surprising. Hope it finds the forest and stays there. Canada. Maybe it should run for there!