Two Eagles letter: Abusing animals

Would you ask an unsupervised child to stop hitting an animal with a stick?

The other evening riding my bicycle past the Boise Zoo I saw three children in the park, the tallest one hitting a goose with a large stick. I looked quickly for and saw no adults around. What to do? I slowed down and said from the roadway, “Hey. Don’t hit the birds.” I stopped, remaining on my bike, and in the road. The kids turned their backs to me. “Can you just drop the stick, please. The birds can’t defend themselves.” The stick was dropped next to the sidewalk. Still seeing no parent or adults or anyone else around I figured that was the end of it ... I watched them run at me, “Oh great. I’m going to get beat up for some birds.” Then I was slammed into by the first guy to reach me. He ran right into me in a tackle, taking me, my bike and him down to the pavement. Two of the three men screamed in my face that I disrespected their relative.

To see the full story with pictures, please read it on my Facebook page.

This story was originally published June 4, 2016 at 12:08 AM with the headline "Two Eagles letter: Abusing animals."