01 March 2011

COLOMBIA: Soccer Player Gets Red Card For Kicking Owl; May Get Jail Time.

NYC D.NEWS/ with 1:01 video /

   A grounded common owl that was kicked off the field by soccer player Luis Moreno in Barranquilla during a play-off match has died...outraging animal rights activists.
   After his action, some fans chanted: "killer, killer, killer."
   Moreno said he did not know the bird was a good-luck charm.
  "I want to apologize to the fans," he said after the game. "I was not trying to hurt the owl. I did it to see if it would fly."
   Animal cruelty laws there can punish offenders with up to three months in jail.
   Many activists want Moreno, a native of Panama, to get the maximum.