the pics in tribune are very sad. I am an animal lover and dont like to see animals killed.i too believe all of those pics were not necessary. Sad yes that it is dead but if you listen to the chicago tribune podcast youll understand why they had to kill it. this article doent go into the sufficient details that would explain why they killed it which i think they should have. it is a beutiful animal to destroy unfortunatly.

There's more than one way to skin a cat.

It IS unfortunate the cougar is dead.
However, I recently read a story of two women jogging on a trail in California. A cougar not much bigger than this one leaped from brush and pulled one woman down. She clasped her hands at her throat as protection so it grabbed her leg and began dragging her back into the brush to make a meal of her. She ended up with bad cuts on hands, arms, and one leg. The second woman was brave enough to grab a tree limb and start hitting the cougar. When it turned on her she aimed for the nose as she had been told to do by her grandfather. With that the cougar gave up and ran off to nurse its bloody nose.
People take note, if a cougar can pull down a full grown woman it can certainly snuff a young child. They tend to go for the neck so even if some one drove it away, a little kid would likely bleed to death before help could arrive.
I doubt the police could have contained the cougar. They are incredibly athletic.

If it had escaped and killed someone, everybody would be saying, "Stupid cops should have killed it when they had the chance." Well they killed it and now they are being criticized for that.
I guarantee if a cougar had you cornered in an alley and a policeman approached you would be yelling at the top of your lungs, "Shoot it, what are you waiting for?"

hockeyjocky, great reference to Tom Jones

sincerely, contradict yourself much?
Allwaysright,excellent point.

My favorite posts--these are LOL funny!:

(ORiley): Oh this is just great! We allow the Flatlanders to run rampant on our streets, lakes and rivers but ONE Wisconsin cat enters their neighborhood and BANG, they shoot it! I can't wait 'till tourist season opens...lol.

(NVgrf): The two photos are obviously the result of it being a Cougar. If it were to have been a Viking it would have had a two coulmn inch story and no photo.

(garyprimer): Just to be safe and out of habit, one of the officers carefully placed an unregistered handgun near the cougars body.

i like chicken
i like liver
meow mix, meow mix please deliver!

What's new, pussycat? Whoa-woh-woh-oh....

Allwaysright, contradict yourself much?

Wisconsinheat, excellent point.

if you ask me people need to find something better to do then make stupid posts on here

For everyone posting here that thinks things should have been handled differently; How much are you willing to have your taxes raised to provide cougar, lion, tiger, wolf, control training to area law enforcement agencies?

They said in the Chicago Tribune that it is very hard to tranquilize a cougar. You have to make sure you hit them with it in the right spot and it takes awhile for it to take full affect so the cougar could've become aggressive. Since there were bystanders they didn't want to take any chances on it attacking someone and that’s why it was shot.

Maybe they should start training the Chicago Police how to tranquilize wild animals encase another cougar ends up roaming around Chicago. Maybe the cougar isn’t the Milton cougar; maybe someone had it as a cub, flushed it down the toilet and it finally came out of the sewer and was looking for revenge;)

That cougar didn't have a chance in Chicago. They could have tranquilized it and took it to a zoo or something.

call1: Below is the post that redhawk65 is talking about.

Good grief folks. Just when I think I've reached my level of amazement with the absolute idiotic criticism some people give regarding anything the police do, I read comments like in this story and am further amazed. It must be nice for some of you who apparently live in Disney Land. We're talking about a WILD PREDATORY ANIMAL in an urban environment. We're also talking about a large, busy city. Just call the ASPCA and wait for them to arrive with a tranquilizer gun? Ya, and after about 7 hours of waiting around, diverting pedestrian and possibly vehicle traffic to keep this thing "cornered" then maybe someone could show up to tranquilize this thing as I'm sure they keep their "cougar darts" at the ready in Chicago. Nevermind the fact that a cougar has been known, on occasion, to run very fast, jump high, you know, the kinds of things that alot of wild predatory animals do quite well. Bottom line, a cougar is an ANIMAL, we are PEOPLE. If it comes down to a decision of a potential risk to the public or all of us going to bed tonite with a warm fuzzy feeling cause we found this cougar a foster home, I'll chose protecting the public. Those of you who feel differently should band together and start a cougar advocacy group to fight this type of police brutality against cougars, I'm sure you could get yourselves on Nancy Grace or something. Meanwhile, I'll continue living in the REAL WORLD.

Please... enlighten us Redhawk65.. What is it that you know the rest of us don't?

I agree 100% with the comment from "rexkramer". Some of the posts on this topic and others are laughable, at best. If people would only take a step back to look a the big picture and maybe research the topic a little...

Face it, now the DNR can go back to denying that there are cougars

Who-ever had the bright idea to just let this cougar run free over near a populated area (i.e. Milton), just because "Cougars once were indigenous to that area,"-- Said person needs to be demoted all the way down to being fired. Anyone with half a brain could have seen this coming. Lets hope the DNR doesn't have anymore bright idea's like this one.

If these officers would normally have had a good reason, in that urban area, to be prepared to deal with such wildlife as a cougar, this would never had been news, and we’d have never heard about it. We’re talking about a totally different demographic there. Just like Milton’s Cargill grain elevator, the tallest building in Rock County, was not the target of terrorist plane highjackers in 2001. We can’t base what their actions should have been on what should or could have happened if they’d had it cornered on Highway 26. No one (in his right mind) would have wanted this animal to be shot if there was no perceived threat, but how could it not have been at least a perceived threat? Remember, it did jump a 6 foot fence as well as run past an officer in a highly populated area. It could have easily escaped and entered another area not offering the immediate protection of an officer, and certainly not the protection of animal control officers, who are not likely to be waiting on every Chicago area street corner for a wild cougar to appear.
Too bad we had to see the photo, though. Like children, we are not as likely to be affected as much if we do not see it with our own eyes.
I, for one, looked forward to seeing more information on "our cougar" and regretted that this had to happen.

For those of you who are weeping for the cougar, which would rather see - photos of a dead cougar or photos of maimed school children?

If you think 2 pics is to many check out chicagotribune.com there is like 10 pics there. guess they could not belive it was dead.

If they come back with the results of the DNA test before a year is up, maybe Wisconsin could recruit some of the scientists to help clear the crime lab's back log. Is the Chicago cop that shot the cat going to mount it? All joking aside, it is too bad the public and the officers that serve us are not better trained to deal with the wildlife. As a previous comment touched on, training can be the key to co-existence with the wild. We have the introduction of wolves, wild boars increasing their territory down in the SW corner of the state, elk in the north, and now cougars. The DNR is doing a great job, but as the communities we live in expand, we displace the wildlife. It is unfortunate, but reality. We have found deer adapting to the loss of land and utilizing pockets of woods in cities, and now cougars in populated areas. We can live together with little worry, but to reduce this type of event from happening we need a better informed public.

Oh this is just great! We allow the Flatlanders to run rampant on our streets, lakes and rivers but ONE Wisconsin cat enters their neighborhood and BANG, they shoot it! I can't wait 'till tourist season opens...lol.

As bones stated to captian Kirk... "He's DEAD Jim."

You say to tranquilize the cougar and they should have released it back to the wild. My question is what is the wild anymore?

lets say you managed to tranquilize this cougar and set it back into the wild i would bet a whole nickle that it would make it back into a city because there are alot of cats and dog that probly don't know any better running around

In the wild, cougars, hunt to live. They don't sneak around stealing picnic baskets like Yogi Bear. They like small, helpless prey that are easy to kill and can't hurt them, like rabbits which are scarce in large urban areas and babies and small children which are plentiful. In a large metropolis like Chicago, it would find little else to eat and would find itself confronted frequently by people whom it would become less fearful of each time. The Police had it in view and had little time to act before it escaped them. Even if a tranquillizer were available, would the drug on hand work on a cougar? Would it poison it? What if it drugged the cougar into a demented state making it more dangerous than ever? You can't just use any old drug, you would have to use one the effects of which on cougars is known. I don't believe the animal control people in Chicago know what works on cougars and what doesn't, even if they had an hour to get there which they didn't.

Did anyone see the video clip of the cougar running AWAY from the police officer? He didn't look like he was in attack mode. (I'm talking about the cougar, BTW.)
So this cougar is D-E-A-D. It was said this was in fact a wild animal, not a released "pet." That means we can probably expect to find others migrating here. Why don't we use this as a learning experience and have our officers of law actually carry tranquiler guns and learn about how to deal with wild animals, and even domestic and farm animals? Wouldn't that have been great for the parade in Milton?
Also, shouldn't every community that holds a circus with wild animals be REQUIRED to have an officer or veterinarian ON HAND, tranquilizer gun in hand, the entire time the animal is uncaged?
In fact, why don't they just tranquilize humans instead of tazing them? It seems a lot less violent all the way around.

This is more than just "weeping" about a dead cougar and just because some of us weep for the cougars doesn't mean we don't also "weep" about the other tragedies of the world -- nor does it mean that we only weep, not celebrate. It means we care and want to make a difference. I guess some people were only gifted a small amount of compassion.

Let's face it this is about people who believe in live and let live and people who dont care about anything except themselves and there needs and wants. I'm proud to say I believe in Live and Let Live.

I'd never thought of Janesville being full of "city people" until about 10 years ago, but it seems to have become that, and a little perspective is necessary for those who need it. Imagine a pig that is angry. Then imagine a wild boar with fangs, greater speed, larger size, and a will to survive. In other words, this is your cat on steroids.

Can't people have respect for the people that have feelings for animals? It is not a joke. It is very sad that this poor animal had to be shot. All the 'what ifs'. It made it this far with out mauling and killing people or their pets. Most likely it was someones's pet that got let loose or escaped. I don't think pictures of the dead animal needed to be printed.

I also don't think the photos were necessary. The older I get, the worse I feel for Mother Nature's children.

ATTENTION!!

THE COUGAR IS DEAD.

D-E-A-D

Now, lets dry our tears and find something else to weep about.

Seems like most people here watch too much TV.

cardtrader,
You are right the Babyboomers did survive with less safety laws and other less liberal ways of life. What you don't realize is the baby boomers are now the adults so who do you think is shaping society today. Maybe you babyboomers should ask your parents to step back to the plate and "slap" some sense into todays society.

news for baymom. you are bitter. this is about a cougar and fear about a wild predatory animal trotting around a populated area. it's not about your fear of ANYTHING else.

There are alot of people in this world that we let walk around that hurt kids but we do nothing about them. This animal hurt no one. Just people being scared of something they dont understand so that makes it right. Everybody needs to realize before we had all these laws about safety we all (baby boomers)survived late night walks, playing on steal and cement playgrouns,cuts with dirt in them, ect.ect.ect. This cougar was lost not a threat

I get a kick out of everyone crying because this cougar was shot. Yet if it would have hurt someone, possibly a child, while the police were waiting for a chance to "capture" the wild animal, you all would be crying because they didn't do enough to protect the citizens of Chicago. The damn thing is dead finally and hopefully we don't have to hear about it anymore. Thanks to the police for doing their job and protecting the public.

I see.

So, according to all the high-rise living environmentalists, if a bear, cougar, or wolf is in my rural/small town area, threatening *my* children, the right thing is to let it live.
If, however, it's in the city, threatening *city* children, it should be shot.

Sounds like typical liberal logic to me.
(But I suppose that would just be said to be "bitterness", since I live in a small town.)

This is a real shame, this animal could have been caught and released back in the wild, the crap about if it would have mauled someone is just that crap. This animal has made it from south dakota and there has been no reports of any maulings anywhere on it's journey. This animal was lost looking for it's way home nothing more nothing less. Shame on you Chicago Police.!!!!!!

Good grief folks. Just when I think I've reached my level of amazement with the absolute idiotic criticism some people give regarding anything the police do, I read comments like in this story and am further amazed. It must be nice for some of you who apparently live in Disney Land. We're talking about a WILD PREDATORY ANIMAL in an urban environment. We're also talking about a large, busy city. Just call the ASPCA and wait for them to arrive with a tranquilizer gun? Ya, and after about 7 hours of waiting around, diverting pedestrian and possibly vehicle traffic to keep this thing "cornered" then maybe someone could show up to tranquilize this thing as I'm sure they keep their "cougar darts" at the ready in Chicago. Nevermind the fact that a cougar has been known, on occasion, to run very fast, jump high, you know, the kinds of things that alot of wild predatory animals do quite well. Bottom line, a cougar is an ANIMAL, we are PEOPLE. If it comes down to a decision of a potential risk to the public or all of us going to bed tonite with a warm fuzzy feeling cause we found this cougar a foster home, I'll chose protecting the public. Those of you who feel differently should band together and start a cougar advocacy group to fight this type of police brutality against cougars, I'm sure you could get yourselves on Nancy Grace or something. Meanwhile, I'll continue living in the REAL WORLD.

Poor Cougar

"It was originally spotted in an elementary school parking lot where a daycare was still active." So okay, it was there, it didn't hurt anyone, right? Why shoot it?
Running through backyards, jumping over fences, what's so criminal about that? Why shoot it?
As far as threatening officers, what's it supposed to do when its backed in a corner in a strange place by a predator? I'd threaten too. Why shoot it?
Why not leave it cornered, call the ASPCA and have them tranquilize it? If it lunges okay, shoot (provided you don't advance too close on it first, forcing its hand!)
Sounds like the old "shoot now, ask questions later" philosophy.

mytake-your "take" is only accurate in some cases, you can't look at the news today and tell me there aren't many reasons that people are doing without, many causes that they now have less control over. So what anyway-if a kid is hungry, I am not going to look at his family history before I do what I can to feed him/her.
"if you are concerned about human suffering and hunger then do something about"? I do. Any other ideas?
I should "complain about the CAUSE not the AFFECT."? I do, when appropriate and when it could maybe make a difference.

The chicagotribune.com site has a bit more info. This was initially spotted in an elementary school parking lot “where a day-care program was still active”. Kids & wild animals, bad mix. So, no options, it was a no brainer, the police took it down before anybody got hurt.

they had other options i'm sure, but being trigger happy control freaks, they chose to use it for taget practice. 65% of hunger would be wiped out if the fathers of out of wedlock children stepped up and became men. instead they wear the badge of honor "thats my babies momma" and then move on to another female to breed again. then add the ones in prison "AGAIN" and a huge portion could be eliminated. the other 35% could be reduced (not eliminated) by people taking jobs they may feel are beneath them. my point being: if you are concerned about human suffering and hunger then do something about, or complain about the CAUSE not the AFFECT. percentages are solely my guess with no documentated proof. but i bet they are in the "ball park" pardon the spelling.

You know what, TomPaine, I sure have to agree with you on that. Though garyprimer still makes me laugh, I’d noticed that these headlines I’m putting here-(these are just some local-area ones for example), maybe shared a half dozen comments between them. I know this is off topic, but what we can do about hunger and other forms of preventable miseries never seems to be a topic for discussion. “Food banks cashing it in”, “Walk to stomp out hunger”, “Community icon’ serves hungry”, “Salvation Army food drive begins”, “Pastor helps hurricane victims rebuild”, “Edgerton coalition helps teens, adults come together”. (I was very sad to see the photo of the animal, though<---(on topic)-but happy it wasn’t a 3 year old child)

The director of the Chicago Humane Society was just on WBBN, saying cats have never, ever been known to attack a human being....when told the cat was a wild cougar and not a domesticated Abyssinian, the director's cell phone went mysteriously silent.

Two photos in the JVG? Was it offering lap dances at Screemin' Meemies too?

I blame Walt Disney.

The two photos are obviously the result of it being a Cougar. If it were to have been a Viking it would have had a two coulmn inch story and no photo.

They faked it, in order to get the bigger cougar to turn itself in.

He was also added to the Illinois voter registration list. Because of the two photos he will get to vote twice.

I agree it is a shame, but it was running through backyards, jumping fences and threatened the officers. I think they had no choice. Check out the full story in the chicago tribune.

2 photos in the Gazette? must have been arrested BEFORE they shot it.

Couldn't they have contacted animal control and tranquilzed it? I understand the situation they were in, that they may have had no other choice and I'm don't mean to be critical of the decision. It's just a shame that the cougar had to die.

Kind of sad but you guys are making me laugh.

Where's the chalk outline?

And you know there's no cash left in that dead cat's wallet.

Did we really need to see a picture of the poor thing, DEAD?

lmao gary. bravo.

Just to be safe and out of habit, one of the officers carefully placed an unregistered handgun near the cougars body.

Apparently one picture of the dead cougar wasn't enough. This is too bad--I don't blame the officers, but it's sad nonetheless. What a beautiful animal--not one I'd want running around in my back alley...