Opossum beaten, drowned, tasered
Boynton Beach, FL (US)Incident Date: Monday, Oct 8, 2007
County: Palm Beach
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: John Linsen
A man was arrested for drowning, beating, and Tasering a possum Monday before it finally died.
Police caught John Linsen, 55, using a shovel to beat the animal, which was still breathing at the bottom of a trash bin in the 100 block of Southeast First Street.
"I've tried the stun gun and drowning," he told the animal control supervisor who caught him in the act.
Police hauled Linsen to the county jail on a charge of causing pain and suffering and cruel death to an animal.
They also took the possum and gave it a proper burial.
Liz Roehrich, supervisor of Boynton Beach police department's animal control division, said she was flagged down by a city employee who had seen Linsen beating the possum. Roehrich pulled over and saw Linsen slamming the shovel into the animal.
"What are you doing?" she asked, stunned by what she was seeing.
Linsen stopped hitting the animal for a moment.
"It's an opossum," he said, then began striking it again.
Roehrich asked him to stop, took his stun gun, and read him his rights. Linsen allegedly admitted to killing 21 or 22 other possums using what police believe were similar methods.
Linsen did not appear to believe he was doing anything wrong, Roehrich said. She said it was the first time in 20-plus years on the job that she'd seen someone cruelly kill an animal before her eyes.
"It was appalling,' Roehrich said. "It doesn't matter what type of animal it is. Every animal experiences pain, and that animal experienced a horrid death."
Linsen is a tenant in a nearby building that has experienced problems with possums on the property, Roehrich said.
People who need to get possums off their property can call a licensed private trapper or get a permit to take the possum to animal control to be euthanized.
"There's no excuse for brutally beating an animal to death," Roehrich said.
Linsen faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. References« FL State Animal Cruelty Map
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