Posted on 04/21/2015 2:32:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A sea lion pup was kidnapped on a Los Angeles beach Sunday morning, a witness told police officers. Now, an investigation is underway to find the missing pup and its kidnappers.
Two pups that made their way onto Dockweiler State Beach were being harassed by a group of people at about 3:30 a.m., the witness said, according to Los Angeles Police Department officers. Reports stated that the group was throwing things at the sea lions, including cinder blocks.
They took a blanket out of a car, wrapped up one of the sea lions and took off with the animal in a black Honda Civic, police said. When officers arrived, they found the second sea lion trying to make its way out of some bushes and back to shore. That pup was able to escape its attackers and was picked up by Marine Animal Rescue.
Keeping a sea lion is a federal crime, and can be very difficult and dangerous -- they bite harder than a pit bull and have "the dirtiest mouth of any mammal," said Peter Wallerstein of Marine Animal Rescue, who said this was his 321st rescue of the year, more than the entirety of 2014.
"They could get bitten, they could get infected," Wallerstein said of the people who kidnapped the animal. "The sea lions can inflict a very serious bite."
The Marine Mammal Protection Act makes feeding and harassing sea lions illegal. An LAPD spokesman said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is a federal agency that tracks sea lion strandings in Southern California, is investigating the possible kidnapping. The sea lion attackers and kidnappers could face fines up to $10,000 and possibly up to one year jail time.
Sea lion strandings and interactions with humans have been much more frequent than normal in the last few years. Last week, a sea lion walked about five blocks to a San Diego-area high school.
A rescue group in Laguna Beach said they are treating twice as many malnourished sea lions as last year. Statewide, rescue centers have taken in more than 1,600 marine mammals, which is three to four times the normal average.
"We've doubled our rescues and there seems to be no end in sight," Wallerstein told NBC4 in March.
Scientists think warmer-than-usual ocean waters are pushing away sea lions' favored foods, leaving them struggling to find something to eat.
"These sea lions need a specialized food supply," Wallerstein said.
Wallerstein said underfed sea lions get out out of and as far away from the water as possible because they don't have as much body fat as they should and get cold easily.
If you see a sea lion or seal, call lifeguards or marine mammal rescue, but don't go near it, he said.
Was mark kelley-giffords anywhere near the scene? I heard his daughters dog is hungry.
Maybe they were Eskimos or American Indians?
I hope these future murders are caught and locked up!
“future murderers”? They probably killed that sea lion. The thugs from South of the border kill and eat opposums, too. haven’t seen many opposums lately.
That Sea Lion pup is likely already on the grill.
Look for smoke.
The only people I know who eat sea lions are Ohlone and maybe Japanese.
I’m very glad there were no photographs of seal pups being mistreated. People wonder why the government has crept into all aspects of our lives. In the absence of personal decency or an inner voice that says “Stop doing this action!”, it may take a set of laws to protect helpless animals. Laws that will be enforced and used to prosecute. All this takes tax money.
They were hungry.
I'll bet our dipwad governor tried to get him enrolled and on a path to citizenship. One more Democratic vote, you know!
Possum is a staple of backwoods southern cuisine, dont'cha know!
Kidnapped? It’s an animal.
“dirtest mouth mouth among mammals...”
Maybe should wash it out with soap........
This is the city, Los Angeles California. It’s a big city, a decent city where millions of folks go about their daily business and never have a run with the law. But when they do, that’s where I come in, I carry a badge. Da Da dum dum.. da da da dum....
I heard that Boxer and Sanchez were writing letters and making calls to get it fast tracked federal aid.
I was thinking the same thing...kidnapped? Shouldn’t it be ‘SeaLionnapped’?
Or Listerine...
No description.
That might have been useful if they had a description. Surely the witnesses gave one.
Tastes like chicken.
Some muktuk.
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