11 elderly animals murdered in a refuge in Colorado

What is so sad about just what has happened
Is the previous owner who established this place
Would have died rather than killed his precious old animals
He made himself ill and lost his precious base
When he sold it all over
To the Lionsgate Sanctuary
The two owners must have been so aware
Of what it had meant to the previous owner
And that they killed the animals
Creating despair

It seems they went through hell and high water
After 2007 when they took charge
It was clearly difficult raising the money
The bill for feeding them clearly was large
Despite floods and no other income to speak of
Ten years is still a long time to go on
Killing them though is just not on the table
There should have been options
But now they are gone

To say moving disabled and old souls would kill them
Well you went and killed them in situ so why
Just because you are old doesnt mean you are slaughtered
Life is still precious so why should they die
This is a refuge and you would do the best
For invalids surely not put them to death
Look into their eyes and give them the needle
Deny all those old friends the ultimate breath

One cannot appreciate really the problems
How the emotions played on them that day
Being turned down from moving the animals
Which to my mind says they could have been moved
Anyway
So why not take up other sanctuary offers
What happened to the bones of the animals who
The lions and the tigers their bones would be
High priced
Shipped over to China we know that is true

But according to reports they all have been buried
Somewhere in the refuge and the council agrees
No laws have been broken and that is the end of it
But now a petition hopes to appease
Those who believe that something is fishy
And both of the partners should be sent off to jail
All of the animals came from previous cruelty
So at least had a life but its a tragic tale

The previous owner had said on record
Euthanazia is not an option
Unless really they start the process with me
Since that was well known its hard that the owners
Would resort to such action
How could it be?

Whatever happens all death is final
And these LIONS and TIGERs and BEARS
Had to pay
They took the can
For whatever happened
They lost their lives on that cold April day