Seal or sea lion pup abducted from Los Angeles beach: Police

LOS ANGELES — A seal or sea lion pup was abducted from a Los Angeles beach yesterday (April 19).

A witness to the abduction said four people wrapped the pup in a blanket and left in a car around 3.20am from Dockweiler State Beach, just west of the city’s international airport, said Los Angeles Police Officer Rosario Herrera. The witness said the two men and two women in their early to mid-20s were harassing and taunting the animal prior to the abduction.

The initial police report said the animal was a small seal. But a companion pup that escaped and was later found on the beach is a sea lion, according to Mr Peter Wallerstein, the president of the group Marine Animal Rescue.

The rescued pup weighs about 11.3kg and is probably 10-months-old, said Mr Wallerstein, who stays in a trailer at the beach and was woken by security guards seeking his help. Sea lions of this size are “really small, really look cute, but they’re dangerous”, he said. “These are wild animals.”

They are also not fit to be kept as pets.

“The animal needs fluids, needs special treatments,” he said. “You can’t just feed it dog food. It’s not going to work.”

The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investigating the abduction because baby sea lions are a protected species. Police began a cruelty to animal investigation. AP