Posted on 08/20/2018 7:05:14 AM PDT by Gamecock
PALM BAY, Fla. - An 88-year-old man posted a $2,000 bond and walked out of the Brevard County Jail on Friday, after being accused of burning a raccoon he had trapped.
His first time in jail, Ezra James said he feared the raccoon would bite him and give him rabies. He said he also planned to kill the raccoon for eating mangos in his yard.
"I throw some gasoline on him and I light a match," James said.
Moments later, as the raccoon burned alive, a neighbor called 911, James said.
James called that neighbor a "wicked woman."
"My business is my business. I don't take my business to strangers," said James. He also said he wouldn't apologize to some disturbed neighbors.
James said he did not know authorities would have humanely euthanized the raccoon.
Palm Bay police said an officer had to shoot the raccoon to put it out of its misery.
James will have some explaining to do to neighbors who thought he was a nice guy.
"Maybe the man is losing it to do something like that," Ana DeJesus said.
"I can't stand what people do to animals anymore. They need to live too," Nancy Gill said.
James rode a taxi home Friday from the county jail. His next court date is not scheduled yet.
At least in Ohio it is illegal to move a nuisance animal.
Once you have trapped an animal it is your responsibility to dispose of it properly.
I hadn’t either until today, thanks!
Living inside the city limits, but still visited by raccoons, I could probably only get away with that on 7/4 or late on 12/31.
“Not guilty! And I’ll buy that man another can of gasoline.”
Why would anyone advocate, or in your case, celebrate the torture of an animal? (Yes, there are raccoons where I live.) Your post reeks of evil. I don’t know you or perhaps I would express myself in greater detail. Perhaps you are just trying to be clever or funny. If so, you have failed miserably. This is the cruellest post I have ever read on FR. Go back to DU where you belong.
“Where’s my saprize?”
Critter control. Talk about doing it wrong.
88 YO. By now he should have learned to share!
Ya got me bustin a gut here. Damn you Clyde.
Most of your horrendous murderers have a past history of being cruel to animals.
This sounds like a line from a Jimmy Buffett song.
I don’t have any issue trapping and killing a raccoon, but if you honestly see nothing wrong with burning any animal alive, other than to directly save a human life, then you probably should consider professional help.
Or better yet go to a burn unit and talk to someone who has suffered third degree burns.
Read the article. This animal was doused in gasoline and set on fire a neighbor noticed called the cops and when the cops came lord knows how much time later shot the animal to put it out of its misery...
This was NOT a quick death, it was a very cruel one. I don’t believe the mans intentions were to be cruel, but it clearly was.
He doesn’t realise that if they had opposable thumbs chickens would kill you in a millisecond.
Or, those were unusually good Mangos.
Raccoons can be cute and cuddly when they have’nt become complete total and utter pests. Here in the Seattle/Tacoma area they’ve become the latter.
He should have just shot the thing dead. Putting it on fire was perhaps a bit over the top...
He raises chickens and won’t even eat the eggs.
___
If he doesn’t eat the eggs or the chickens, does he just raise them because he likes having chickens as pets?
Creatures are full of spite. There are lots of things that many animals, humans included, do that is .. well.. in-humane.
Both the burning and the drowning, as well as the .22 to the head are all a bit much for just messing with your trash.
I’ve been harassed lately by a black bear. I carry a gun incase it wants to eat me - or maybe even sample a bit of my meat before making a decision - but I’m not shooting it because I had to clean up garbage.
As humans being at the top of the food chain, we all need to consider our position a bit better before firing up the flame thrower.
Of which I also have and use. You know, wasp nests.
Put a Pepsi bottle over the barrel. Poke holes in the bottle with a pencil
My son worked at a Christian camp the past two summers. Last year, they were overrun by skunks.
He posted a video one day singing “hi ho, hi ho, skunk drowning we will go” as they dropped the trap into the lake
They must have gotten them all because there were none around camp this year.
While our original U.S. culture doesn’t condone animal worship, it doesn’t condone cruelty to animals, either. There are more humane methods for getting rid of varmints. Intentionally burning them to death is certainly an activity that is foreign to us.
Straightforward animal cruelty. The only question is whether he’s mentally competent.
I don’t go that far... I doubt the man honestly thought how cruel this death would be. Probably thought, I need to kill it what do I have? Ah gasoline that will work and it it dies quickly.
I really don’t think the guy was trying to be cruel, just ignorant of the realities.
I am not sure whether to laugh or cry. This old man was trying to rid himself of a pest. Had he “shot” the varmint, he could have been brought up on weapons discharge charges. Burning it alive? Well, wow. He didn’t consider fashioning a spear? Aw, Jeez, man. If he was trying to send a message to the thieving raccoon community, mission accomplished. This guy is now a raccoon terrorist. His mangoes should be safe for a while.
Incidentally, Raccoons are pretty vicious creatures when trapped or cornered.
You said it yourself....it was not his intention to be cruel.
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