Officials Euthanize Cougar That Bit Boy

Tue., April 23, 1996

Dan Hansen Staff Writer

As a grieving owner watched, authorities Monday euthanized a pet cougar that bit a 5-year-old Spokane Valley boy last week.

Spokane County officials ordered the cat destroyed so a veterinarian can test its brain for rabies.

There is no other way to be certain the cat isn’t infected, said Dr. John Beare, the county health officer. Test results should be available late today, he said.

Beare, who ordered the cat destroyed, said he consulted a number of experts looking for an alternative to killing the cat.

“This is not to say that I am not an animal lover. I am. But my first responsibility is the health of the child … We must protect the child.”

Domestic dogs and cats can be quarantined while experts watch them for signs of rabies. But wild cats often don’t show symptoms, Beare said.

Charlie, the 150-pound cougar, punctured and bruised Kannon Langley’s right hand Thursday. The boy received four stitches.

The child was petting the cougar through its cage, while his father and the cat’s owner, Randy McGlenn, talked business.

Contacted at his home Monday, McGlenn refused to comment. No one answered the telephone at the Langley home.

Thursday’s biting has County Commissioner Steve Hasson calling for a ban on exotic pets.

Hasson, who has vacillated on the issue over the years, said the matter should be ready for a public hearing by mid-May.

While owners of dogs and cats must have their pets vaccinated for rabies, there is no federally approved vaccine that works on wild animals, other than ferrets, said Nancy Sattin, county animal control director.

Sattin’s officers could cite the owner of a poodle or Labrador retriever for failing to vaccinate his dog. But there’s no such requirement for the owner of a cougar or a wolf-dog cross, Sattin said.

Charlie first gained notoriety four years ago when state wildlife officials ordered McGlenn to give up the big cat because he was purchased in Mead. State law prohibits the sale of native wildlife in Washington.

McGlenn skirted the law by selling the cat to an Idaho man, then buying him back.

Charlie was back in the news in November when he escaped his pen.

Sheriff’s deputies and animal control officers ringed the yard while McGlenn captured the cougar, which didn’t leave the yard.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Commissioner’s son tangled with cougar Spokane County Commissioner Steve Hasson’s family had its own run-in with Charlie the cougar. Hasson and his two children visited Randy McGlenn’s pet cougar when it was a cub. He was researching a proposed exotic animal ordinance. Hasson said he asked if his kids could play with the cat, and McGlenn said sure. But the animal soon pounced on Hasson’s preschool-age son, Nick, knocking him to the ground “like a rabbit,” said Hasson. Nick Hasson was scared but not hurt, Hasson said. McGlenn assured him the cat was just playing. “The way the cat came up on him was like a predator,” Hasson said Monday. “It seemed like he distinctly had my kid in mind as prey.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: Commissioner’s son tangled with cougar Spokane County Commissioner Steve Hasson’s family had its own run-in with Charlie the cougar. Hasson and his two children visited Randy McGlenn’s pet cougar when it was a cub. He was researching a proposed exotic animal ordinance. Hasson said he asked if his kids could play with the cat, and McGlenn said sure. But the animal soon pounced on Hasson’s preschool-age son, Nick, knocking him to the ground “like a rabbit,” said Hasson. Nick Hasson was scared but not hurt, Hasson said. McGlenn assured him the cat was just playing. “The way the cat came up on him was like a predator,” Hasson said Monday. “It seemed like he distinctly had my kid in mind as prey.”