• Otter@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    It sounds like such a silly scenario, but the story is a bit sad

    A Tennessee woman said she was feeding her cats when she was nearly attacked by a different animal: a monkey.

    The incident occurred on Thursday as the anonymous woman was giving her pets food when a monkey — wearing a leash — tried to attack her, News Channel 9 reported. Police don’t know where the monkey came from or who it belonged to.

    Startled, the woman grabbed a shotgun and struck the vervet monkey.

    The severely injured creature was taken to the Chattanooga Zoo, where veterinarians tried in vain to save it.

    Jake Cash, Director of Marketing and Communications at Chattanooga Zoo, told the outlet: “Every animal care professional we spoke to, and that was in the room, decided that the best, obvious course of action was just a humane euthanasia, due to the severity of the animals injuries.”

    • EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Startled, the woman grabbed a shotgun and struck the vervet monkey.

      Such odd phrasing; did she shoot the monkey or just beat it with the shotgun? It’s hard to tell because of the word choice “struck”.

      • lemonmelon@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I parse this as “the woman used the shotgun to hit the monkey.” If any other meaning was intended, the word choice is poor.

        • EleventhHour@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Yes, but hit it with what? A bullet or with the shotgun itself? See, it doesn’t say that she shot it, and one might conclude that, since it didn’t die immediately and survived long enough to be taken to a vet hospital where it later died, perhaps she just used the shotgun to savagely beat the animal.

          I mean, if the monkey attacked her, she might not be able to get off a shot since shotguns are almost useless in close quarters. She might have had to use the shotgun to bludgeon the monkey until it stopped attacking.

          • lemonmelon@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            “The woman used the shotgun to bludgeon the monkey.”

            If they had meant that she shot the monkey, I would be surprised if they used any phrasing other than “The woman grabbed a shotgun and shot the monkey.”

            Maybe I’m not interpreting what happened correctly, but to me it seems clear.