A bear walks into a hospital...

[glatt]

ROCKY MOUNT, Va. -- An adult black bear was shot and killed after it wandered into a hospital, authorities said.
The 300-pound male bear was first spotted walking along a street Tuesday night, authorities said. When the bear wandered in front of the nearby Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital, it activated a sensor that opens the hospital's doors.
The bear walked into a computer room and two police officers shut the door behind the animal, said Lt. Karl Martin of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Officers planned to sedate the bear, but they worried about what might happen if the bear got loose in the hospital. So an officer shot and killed the bear.
No one was injured. The computer room sustained minor damage, Martin said.

[Catwoman]

Would it still have been shot if it had remembered to renew its insurance? That's the way it works over there isn't it?

[Radar]

That would suck trying to clean bear brains and guts out of keyboards and monitors.

[glatt]

The story isn't actually all that good.

It's the picture that is gold. Imagine walking down a sterile hallway and meeting up with a big old bear. Totally unexpected.

[Catwoman]

Originally posted by glatt
Imagine walking down a sterile hallway and meeting up with a big old bear.

Every time I have a meeting with my boss...

[Troubleshooter]

It wouldn't have been that difficult to entice the bear out of there instead of blowing it away.

In that environment the smell of real food would carry quite clearly.

[Catwoman]

Quite agree TS.

[Beestie]

300 pounds? Sure doesn't look like it. Looks like a big cub to me.

[lumberjim]

that's bullshit. they didn't have to kill that bear. goddamn hillbillies.. poor thing is probably in a stew right now. afraid it would wake up if they sedated it, my ass.

[Elspode]

I always knew this would happen to Yogi someday if he kept screwing with Mr. Ranger.

[wolver]

I woder why didn't the police man in the picture notice it until it was very close to him.

[Griff]

I wouldn't be leading bears around with food but they could have darted the bugger.



Bear killed, tested for rabies
Pa. woman was mauled last week
BY GREG ERBSTOESSER
Press & Sun-Bulletin

GREAT BEND TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A wild black bear that may have mauled a Dubois Street woman last week will be tested for rabies, but results won't be known for another day or two.

Officials will test a 100-pound male bear captured Sunday on the property where 43-year-old Annette Senior was attacked June 8, Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Tim Conway said Monday.

Game officials have been unable to determine conclusively that the bear killed Sunday is the same one that mauled Senior, but decided to destroy and test the bear because of the nature of the attack, the first reported in Pennsylvania this year.

"We acted on the side of caution," Conway said.

Senior has begun receiving a series of rabies shots as a precaution, state Health Department spokeswoman Jessica Seiders said. Senior was bitten, clawed and scratched on the head, arms and chest. She was rushed to Community Medical Center, Scranton, where she was admitted last Tuesday. The hospital would not say whether she remains a patient.

After the attack, a bear trap fabricated from a metal culvert was set up on the Senior property.

Senior was attacked outside her home after she let her dog out on a wire run before retiring for the night. Game officials said the bear chased the dog, which ran back toward Senior. The dog veered off but the bear continued, attacking Senior and then taking off.

The Seniors were unavailable Monday for comment.

Susquehanna County and northeastern Pennsylvania as well as Broome and Tioga counties are considered prime habitat for black bears. Game officials say people living near wooded areas can reduce the chance of bear attacks by removing bird feeders from yards, storing garbage in covered trash barrels and putting ammonia-soaked rags inside barrels to mask food odors.

[BrianR]

I live near here and heard about this on the news.

Once again, the revenge motive rears it's ugly head.

An innocent animal is killed to avenge a human injury. Same thing happens with sharks. Even that bear in the hospital should NOT have been killed. A trank dart was the best method of dealing with him. Safer for the staff, patients, animal control and the bear too. They could have kept it sedated until animal control got there and took custody of the bear, which would have been released into the wild far away.

I'm by no means a PETA robot, but I do respect the sanctity of life in all species (except bugs). Rabies testing need not involve death to the subject. All you need to do is watch it for ten days to two weeks. If you don't see symptoms (they will be obvious to the trained eye), let the darn thing go!

Sorry for the rant but it's a hot button issue for me.

Brian

[Catwoman]

Originally posted by BrianR
An innocent animal is killed to avenge a human injury.

Nowhere else in nature do you see revenge killings. If an animal injurs another it is in the moment of attack, not afterwards. Likewise if a cub is destroyed by a predator, the mother - while ferociously protective at the point of attack - will not retaliate after the event. The animal can be retrained (i.e. dogs) - all it knows is what it has been taught, you cannot place blame on the animal. And wild animals can be sedated. No excuse.

[xoxoxoBruce]

A trank dart was the best method of dealing with him. Safer for the staff, patients, animal control and the bear too. They could have kept it sedated until animal control got there and took custody of the bear, which would have been released into the wild far away.

C'mon, where are they going to get a dart UNTIL animal control gets there?