Alfredo Gonzalez Gets Jail Time For Killing Cougar In California

Alfredo Gonzalez from Southern California, who admitted shooting and killing a mountain lion in California, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail.

The 60-year-old will also have to serve 240 hours of community service at a Los Angeles County animal shelter. Karen Wold, the Senior Deputy District Attorney in Ventura County, told media outlets, Gonzalez would have to pay restitution, including the cost of the collar he vandalized, which was more than $2300.

Prosecutors claimed Gonzalez shot the cougar in Simi Valley earlier in July.

The mountain lion Gonzalez killed was a protected animal designated P-38. He was seven years old and known to be part of the Santa Susana Mountains population.

Wold told media outlets the National Park Service got a specialized signal from its collar, indicating the feline was dead, and they went out to the location where the signal originated.

When they recovered the collar, they discovered someone had tampered with the device by cutting it. That is when the Department of Fish and Wildlife began their investigation and contact the District Attorney’s office.

The male cougar was believed to have fathered at least four litters. P-38 was part of the mountain lion population; the National Park Service researchers were studying using GPS tracking collars.

It is illegal to kill a cougar in California without a permit. There are particular exemptions like when a person is in mortal danger and has to defend themselves or their family.

Wold stated the mountain lions in the area are on the verge of becoming a threatened species because of illegal hunting.

Gonzalez was charged with two misdemeanors. One of the charges was unlawfully killing a protected mammal, and the other was vandalizing National Park Service property, which was very sophisticated.

The defense led by Shanit Frydman did not respond to the media’s request for comment at the time. He allegedly told the court Gonzalez was concerned about the safety of livestock on the property and campers who were camping in the area. That is why he may have been compelled to take the life of the cougar.

Interestingly, the law maintains that unless the lion is in the act of attacking, it is not legal to shoot it within the jurisdiction of the state without a permit.

Gonzalez is expected to start his sentence on the 25th of October, and after a month, he will serve his community service hours. He will also be placed on three years of probation, and the rifle he used to shoot the animal will be destroyed after it was declared a nuisance by the court.