Beyond the Headlines

In our business you can't beat a good animal story and this week we had two wild ones.

First there was Ripples the cat, who after escaping from his kennel carrier, managed to run amok inside the cockpit of an Air Canada jet. Then, there is the aggressive mother moose who is scaring the pants off the good people of East Lake Ainslie, Cape Breton.

After her excellent adventure Ripples was reunited with his owner, and went on his merry way, oblivious to the havoc he caused to the plans of hundreds of travellers. From the little I know of cats, my guess is he wouldn't have cared even if he knew - cats always seem to have that "it's all about me" look, don't you think?

The moose may not fare so well.

The over-protective mother has been wondering on to people's properties with her calf, and instead of slinking off into the woods when shooed away, she's been giving them a piece of her mind, the only way a moose can - by charging at the startled residents.

The Department of Natural resources is now involved. Their solution is to euthanize her.

A department spokesman says it's cheaper and more pragmatic to kill her, than to tranquillize and re-locate her far into the woods.

DNR defends the decision by saying moose in Cape Breton are actively hunted and aren't on the endangered list - although I think our mother moose might be surprised to learn she is now on the endangered list.

So, what do you think? Is the decision to euthanize the right one? Leave your comments below, and please don't shoot the messenger.

While you ponder the question take a look at Gary Mansfield's story from East Lake Ainslie.