The Soccer Owl Mascot Died Yesterday

Yesterday we discussed the lack of animal aggression laws in Colombia and how that would affect Panamanian soccer player Luis Moreno after he kicked a live owl during a game against Junior Barranquilla on Sunday. Basically, Moreno wasn’t in any trouble despite pissing off most of the animal-loving world. Well the story took a turn for the different yesterday, as the owl, which is also Junior’s mascot, died after going into shock. Now people are calling for serious action against Moreno and he stands by his story that he was just trying to see if the bird could fly.

Just kidding, he knew exactly what he was doing. Moreno admitted yesterday that he let the tension of the game and the atmosphere dictate his actions and he wasn’t thinking clearly when he free kicked a live injured bird. But he apologized and believes that life goes on, just not for the bird.

“My family is very worried about what happened because an entire country is against me. I believe what happened is regrettable and I apologised to the entire country,” he said.

Ramon Jesurum, president of Dimayor, said on Monday that “the player should be severely punished for this painful, horrible act of intolerance,” before adding that the case would go before their disciplinary committee. (Via The Telegraph)

Dimayor is the Colombian league in which Moreno plays, and Jesurum seems pretty pissed about the whole thing. He should demand swift action for the stupid act and show the world that he means business. Otherwise, PETA may make a trip to Colombia and show up outside the league’s venues and loudly protest. In fact, I encourage PETA’s leaders to get to Colombia as quickly as possible, and make sure the natives know that they are American and do not approve of what they’re doing. *fingers crossed*

Video of a really half-assed, selfish apology after the jump…

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/template/utils/ooyala/telegraph_player.swf