A worker at the Houston Zoo was fired after officials said they caught him attacking and killing animals with a BB gun and slingshot, according to a News2Houston investigation. The termination letter said Octabiano Escemilla was hunting and killing rabbits that roamed inside the zoo grounds.
Security guards said the worker was often seen with a BB gun or a slingshot on his maintenance cart as he worked at the zoo. He told others he had been ordered to kill rabbits because they were tearing up the zoo, and traps and other methods didn't work. Brian Hill of the Houston Parks Commission says that he never gave permission to kill the rabbits.
Rabbits were seen in some of the landscaped areas of the zoo. When the rabbits gnawed decorated kale down to the ground, officials said Escemilla decided to kill any rabbit he could find. "They do consume some of the flora around the zoo grounds. But it is not to an extent that we would consider that to be a crisis of any kind," Hill said.
Escemilla was hired as a laborer in May 1996, according to authorities. Some city workers said Escemilla might have misunderstood his instructions because of a language barrier. But his bosses said he went too far and violated the city's no-weapons-at-work policy.
Escemilla took his case to the Civil Service Commission of Houston to protest his termination, but the commission ruled that his firing was justified. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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