In article ,
says...

With a gun...


BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. -- An animal shelter on Bainbridge Island is
seeing more and more animals arriving with gunshot wounds, and the
shelter's director says the disturbing trend needs to stop.

Caring citizens are finding the injured animals and bringing them to
the West Sound Wildlife Shelter. The facility's director, who has seen
so many of the gunshot wounds, said there's no excuse to shoot an
animal without a permit.

Workers at the shelter treat more than 1,000 animals each year. Their
goal is to get the critters back into the wild, but animals are being
dropped off with gunshot wounds.

"I guess people are just more impatient lately. For some reason
they're using a gun to solve all of their problems," said shelter
director Mike Pratt.

Pratt believes people in the area are using guns as a quick solution
for getting rid of animals they consider a nuisance. Last year he
treated more than 50 animals with gun shot wounds, compared to just
one or two in past years.

"These are not mistakes," he said. "These are deliberate, and it needs
to stop."

Pratt said the shooters are using all types of firearms, from pellet
guns to shotguns. And he said the shootings are happening throughout
the region.


That's right folks, you can solve all your problems with a gun. How
many suicides will be facilitated this year with a gun? About 17,000
if I remember correctly. Varmints ain't the only thing we can take
out with a gun.

JPS you get the Harry Krause editing award. You neglected to include the
entire article and you neglected to provide an URL to the article.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/T...akesThese-are-
deliberate-and-it-needs-to-stop-190975381.html

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. -- An animal shelter on Bainbridge Island is
seeing more and more animals arriving with gunshot wounds, and the
shelter's director says the disturbing trend needs to stop.

Caring citizens are finding the injured animals and bringing them to the
West Sound Wildlife Shelter. The facility's director, who has seen so
many of the gunshot wounds, said there's no excuse to shoot an animal
without a permit.

Workers at the shelter treat more than 1,000 animals each year. Their
goal is to get the critters back into the wild, but animals are being
dropped off with gunshot wounds.

"I guess people are just more impatient lately. For some reason they're
using a gun to solve all of their problems," said shelter director Mike
Pratt.

Pratt believes people in the area are using guns as a quick solution for
getting rid of animals they consider a nuisance. Last year he treated
more than 50 animals with gun shot wounds, compared to just one or two
in past years.

"These are not mistakes," he said. "These are deliberate, and it needs
to stop."

Pratt said the shooters are using all types of firearms, from pellet
guns to shotguns. And he said the shootings are happening throughout the
region.

Karla Freimuth spent the last month caring for an injured crow she found
in her yard.

"I didn't know the extent of the damage. I thought it was just a
fledgling that had hurt his wing flying too much or flew into something
and might have broke it or fractured it," she said.

She brought the crow to the shelter on Tuesday and learned that it had
been shot. Pratt said the bird's injuries were so bad that it had to be
euthanized.

"All life is valuable whether it's a little robin or a chicken or a crow
or a coon," Freimuth said.

Shelter staff are now using an injured turkey vulture to educate others
about the importance of wildlife.

"These animals are living, breathing creatures. They feel pain just like
we do," Pratt said.

Pratt said many of the injured animals are protected under state and
federal laws.