DORR, Mich. - Three exotic birds were shot and killed by an Allegan County Animal Control officer, but many neighbors wonder if it had to end like this.
Ellen Feltenbarger and her family found the birds wandering near 30th Street in Dorr. Feltenbarger says she tried using food to contain the animals, but was unsuccessful.
"I put some in my hand and I walked over to them, and they get about three feet away from me and almost ate out of my hand but a car came by and scared them and they ran away," Feltenbarger said.
The family called the Allegan County Sheriff's Department to assist.
Animal Control officers talked with other nearby farmers and the local vet, but could not find the owners of the birds.
"There are no animal welfare groups that want to deal with them because they're very dangerous and hard to manage, and so there's not like we have an option to call an emu sanctuary to come and take them, these are farmed domesticated animals," Captain Chris Kuhn with the Allegan Sheriff's Department said.
"They're not wild, these are domestic animals," said Kuhn. "They're raised domestic but they're very dangerous birds. They're about 100 pounds on average. An adult emu, they have very strong legs with very sharp talons on them that are described as being like a Pterodactyl."
Feltenbarger says her father tried to help the officer catch the birds. But when that didn't work, the officer and Feltenbarger's father had to shoot and kill the birds.
"30th Street being a county primary road is fairly busy and its a two-lane with not a lot of area to escape an emu in the middle of the roadway," Kuhn said.
The sheriff's office says it was the right call.
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