A pet owner who believed judgment day was coming made plans to kill his cat, cockatiel and parrot.
Bill Tinker of Boyes Hot Springs, Calif., told several news outlets he wanted to euthanize the pets because of the doom’s day prediction made by evangelical broadcaster Harold Camping.
Camping, 89, who owns the Family Radio Network in Oakland, Calif., asserted that a massive global earthquake would destroy the earth Saturday on judgment day. Christians would rise into heaven and non-believers would be left behind to ride out the destruction, he said.
But Saturday came and went and the world remained intact.
Fortunately, Tinker’s pets also avoided their own judgment day.
Neighbors called Sonoma Animal Control officials after learning of Tinker’s plans to kill the animals. He said he didn’t want his pets to die a horrible death during the judgment, according to reports. He even went to a veterinary clinic to attempt to purchase euthanasia supplies.
But before Tinker could carry out his plans, the pets were whisked away. Animal control officials took the pets into protective custody and offered to return them to Tinker after Saturday, the Sonoma Index Tribune reported. Tinker refused the offer.
Tinker wasn’t the only one who got swept up in the judgment day announcements that Camping promoted via the media and billboards. Camping broadcasts his radio program over his website and on about 66 national and international radio stations.
The prediction was a timely one for Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, a self-proclaimed atheist business that agrees to care for pets after judgment day for a $135 fee. More than 250 people signed up for the service, according to reports. Refunds are not offered if pet owners are “left behind,” according to Eternal Earth-Bound Pets' website.
Oh, well. There’s always next time.
Camping also got it wrong when he predicted the world would end in 1994.
Sources: ABC News, Sonoma Index Tribune, Eternal Earth-Bound Pets
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