As we discussed before, permission was granted to kill Sea Lions at Bonneville Dam as a last resort because they were eating Salmon.
Efforts were made to catch and relocate the pesky Sea Lions, a more humane way of dealing with it than killing them.
It would come as no surprise that State and Federal Fishery Managers were outraged to discover six of the animals dead from gunshots Sunday, while locked in cages. “A despicable act,” “Random act of violence,”“A terrible thing,” some said.
Unknown at this time is just who may have wantonly kill the trapped animals. Authorites have vowed to “aggressively seek these individuals and prosecute them to the maximum extent of the law.”
If the killers thought they were helping the authorities prevent the predators from eating the Salmon, which is a normal food for the animals, they are sadly mistaken. Their wanton killing has led to the suspension of the trapping program indefintely.
Although I understand the last resort need to kill some of the animals, the kill them trapped in a cage is just wrong and whoever committed this a should be made to pay dearly.
