A pet emu escaped, and its loving owner called 911 in the hopes it might be found. It was, and Maricopa Sheriff's deputies strangled and killed it when they found it.
Video shows deputies with the Maricopa Sheriff's Office getting a lasso around Richard's neck before pulling her over to a police car.
'You can see her neck being constricted and being pulled against her will. They continued to do this, to strangle and torture her to death, until she collapsed while they tried to force her into the back of a squad car," Moilan says.
Richard was just walking, Moilan says, and was not a threat to anyone until the deputies got involved.
Authorities defend the deputies' actions. "Deputies analyzed the situation and took into consideration that the emu had been loose before and had previously kicked a Deputy… in the leg. They attempted getting the emu out of the neighborhood unharmed but, unfortunately, they were unsuccessful," the Maricopa Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The emus should bring in the boys from Australia.
