Walter Palmer closes practice woes: Dentist kills lion lured in as sitting duck - Hartford Top News

Walter Palmer closes practice woes: Dentist kills lion luredin as sitting duck - Hartford Top News

Walter Palmer has closed his dental practice in the wake of threats after he killed a protected lion byluring it in for the excellent dental implants kill with food while on a safari. The outrage over thisdentist killing Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe has escalated to the point where folks want him extraditedback to the scene of the crime to face charges. There's even a shout-out by an animal activist groupto hang this dentist for the demise of the lion.

According to Canada Journal on July 29, the dentist has closed his practice and he's notifying hispatients in a letter. The letter first states his side of the lion killing event then goes on to say he willbe referring his patients to other dentists. Palmer claims he believed the lion was a legal kill anddidn't find out he was mistaken until he was back home in Minnesota.

That doesn't hold water with a lot of folks since this dentist had to see the GPS collar on lion whenhe was removing or having the lion's head removed. Then there's the question of why this dentistfirst shot the lion with a bow and arrow, which may lead to a devious answer. Experts claim thatusing a bow and arrow is a ploy often used so attention isn't drawn to an illegal big game killing withthe sounds of gunshot.

The New York Times reports that this dentist has become a villain overnight. His once unassumingbuilding that houses his dental practice has stuffed animals lined along the front door of thebuilding, a reminder of the lion killing. Notes tacked on the doors of the building offer some verynasty wishes for the dentist, such as "rot in hell."

The 13-year-old lion was protected inside a nationalpark and was monitored by a GPS collar, which hewas fitted with by Oxford University researchers,who were tracking this lions every move. Palmer isaccused of bribing his professional safari guides with$55,000 to set this lion up for the kill. They lured thelion out from the boundaries of this national parkwith food.

Once the lion followed its hunger and went after thefood, Palmer shot the lion with a bow and arrow. The arrow did not kill the lion, so the safari trackedthe lion for another 40 hours until he was in sight and Palmer put the lion down with a gun. Did thatlion suffer for those 40 hours?

He then beheaded and skinned the animal for trophies of his kill. The head and skin of the lion wasrecovered and placed into evidence in this case.

This cruel and grisly killing doesn't sound like the typical big game hunt. Luring the lion out of thesafety of a national park and setting it up for the kill doesn't take the skill that the big game huntersoften brag about. With the death threats and activists openly calling for Palmer to hang for this kill,closing his dentist practice was probably the safest thing for this dentist to do right now.

He is paying a big price for this illegal kill, starting with his business imploding. This is not the endof Palmer's woes, the investigation is on-going and he may face charges in Zimbabwe. For now heneeds to dodge the threats as even PETA said he should "hang for killing Cecil."