VIA: AJC.com
Lima, a 12-year-old circus zebra that ran through downtown Atlanta last month, has been euthanized, according to a statement on Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey’s Web site.
“It was very much a quality of life issue,” circus spokeswoman Crystal Drake told the AJC Thursday evening. “They could measure the quality of life … and it wouldn’t have been humane to keep it alive.”
The animal’s hooves were damaged when he ran through downtown Atlanta and eventually ended up on the Downtown Connector. The statement says veterinarians were unable to repair the animal’s hooves.
“Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey and its veterinary staff, along with the veterinary team at The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, are disheartened to announce that Lima … has been euthanized,” the statement said.
The zebra broke loose from a training-and-exercise area and ran through downtown Atlanta in the middle of rush-hour traffic.
His hooves were bloody from running along the pavement. Drake said that several vets examined Lima, and then he was taken to UGA for a full, comprehensive exam.
According to Ringling, circus vets as well as UGA vets “tried numerous medical treatments to repair damage to the zebra’s hooves. Sadly, the treatments were not successful.”
The show, which traveled to Raleigh, Youngstown, Ohio and Cincinnati, has had no other issues with its animal enclosures, Drake told the AJC.
Read the full story here.
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