(7/1/99)
WINLOCK, Wash. (AP) _ The owner of an exotic animal farm says she will not get rid of an ostrich just because it killed her father.
Fred W. Parker, an 81-year-old man with heart trouble, was found dead Sunday night in the pen of 400-pound King Tut. Parker suffered a fractured neck, and a coroner concluded his bad heart probably contributed to the death.
Parker's daughter said she did not understand why her father, who had been left alone over the weekend to feed the ostriches, emus, llamas and potbellied pigs on her exotic animal farm, was in the pen.
But she did not blame the ostrich.
``I have no intentions right now of destroying my ostrich because of my father's death,'' Linda Carter said. ``The ostrich was protecting his domain.
``It's just like any wild animal,'' she said. ``You don't go in a bear's pen; you don't go in an ostrich's pen.''
Charlton Heston, president of the NRA, commented, ``Ostriches don't kill people, people kill people. You can't blame the ostrich.''
The case has been referred to the prosecutor's office.
Chief Criminal Deputy Joe Doench said mating season for ostriches and males become very aggressive this time of year. Last year, King Tut kicked Carter 10 1/2 feet.
Carter said she has been raising ostriches for more than two years and they have been profitable. Ostrich meat sells for $9 a pound, she said. Leather hides sell for $500 each and the eyes can be sold in Japan for $250 a head.
``This year, my business has just boomed,'' Carter said. ``I can always get another father, but ostriches cost good money.''
(Sent in by alert reader 'NJ')