Search
Advertisement
| Digg | Facebook | E-mail | Print
Jul 19, 2008 11:53 am US/Pacific

Rescued Santa Clara Sea Lion To Be Euthanized

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) ― Veterinarians say a sea lion rescued after spending weeks trapped in a Santa Clara creek is enduring incurable brain seizures and must be euthanized.

Mammal experts caring for the sea lion learned Friday that the 4-year-old animal was suffering from domoic acid poisoning, a condition caused by long-term exposure to toxic algae blooms.

A spokesman for the Sausalito-based Marine Mammal Center said the sea lion would likely starve to death or have a seizure and drown if released back into the wild.

The animal is set to be euthanized in the next few days.

Volunteers used fishing nets and a dog kennel earlier this month to rescue the 6-foot, 200-pound mammal from the creek, where it had been swimming since June.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

From Our Partners

Video

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Pets And Animals

Top News Stories

Advertisement

© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.