Rest in Peace, Mountain Lion P-22

A year since his memorial service, the Griffith Park Mountain Lion continues to inspire

Yesterday marked one year since the public memorial service at the Greek Theater for P-22, an internationally famous and locally beloved wild mountain lion who lived in Griffith Park, a 4000 plus acre urban park located in the middle of the City of Los Angeles, for well over a decade.

P-22 died on December 17, 2022, after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife euthanized him without any advance warning to the public. This gut wrenching news was announced on a Saturday morning only after P-22 had been euthanized and only two days after the department had told the public that it would be several weeks before health testing for him was completed and any decision would be made.

The death of P-22 filled many Angelenos with grief and a profound sense of loss and the manner of his death only added to it. The urban mountain lion who defied the odds and successfully lived in peaceful coexistence with humanity was gone.

P-22 became a celebrity based upon his choice of residence. For decades, residents who lived in the neighborhoods surrounding Griffith Park insisted that mountain lions frequented the park. Yet most scientists and biologists thought it impossible and dismissed reports of mountain lions as urban legend.

When P-22 was first spotted on a hidden trail camera in early 2012, he proved that the neighbors of Griffith Park were right all along. The National Park Service, as part of their study of the local mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains, then captured him and fitted him with a collar. His name stems from being the 22nd mountain lion in the study.

Genetic testing demonstrated that P-22 had been born in the Santa Monica Mountains to the west of the city. But at dispersal age, he embarked upon a harrowing journey east into the city, crossing at least two major freeways (the 405 and the 101) to arrive in Griffith Park.

And there he stayed, in mostly peaceful co-existence with his human neighbors (in Griffith Park, he literally saw millions of humans a year).

As I sat in my Uber to the Greek Theater a year ago (and as I write this post today), it dawned on me that to the outside world, the reaction to P-22’s death probably confirmed the unabashed liberalism/progressivism of the Los Angeles electorate and altogether made us Angelenos look insane.

However, I think it is a credit to Angelenos that when a wild mountain lion moved into town, we didn’t want him gone. We embraced him.

For me, I felt compelled to go to the memorial because P-22 had done something to make my life better. He had inspired me to finally write a novel, from beginning to end. Not to mention several other short works of fiction.

I had never been able to do it before, despite numerous attempts and P-22 had finally given me that inspiration and motivation. In that regard, he helped make my life better.¹

I’m hardly alone in writing about P-22. He captivated the imagination of many, inspiring countless fictional books, short stories, and Twitter accounts.

He was portrayed in a multitude of different ways, but always as the hero and the penultimate good guy. It’s fitting.

P-22 helped make life better for his species. Policies were changed to better treat mountain lions as a result of him. He was the poster child for fundraising for the Annenberg Wildlife bridge which will help protect his species for generations to come. Even fictional depictions of mountain lions seem to have changed during the course of his life.

Ultimately, he brought out the best in Angelenos, including me.

On the one year anniversary of his funeral, I wanted to share one of the pieces I had written about him as a further tribute to him, When the Mountain Lion Must Speak for the Human who Cannot Speak for Himself.

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Chapter 1

“It is a tragedy when any Republic of Calafia citizen - bear, bobcat, cat, coyote, dog, mountain lion, or wolf - loses their life to a human,” P-22 said. The famous resident Griffith Park mountain lion addressed the Greater Calafia Mountain Lion Confederation Council, where he served as an elected Councilor.

The Greater Calafia Mountain Lion Confederation was part of a greater alliance of multiple overlapping animal republics in California. They were known collectively as the “Republic of Calafia”. A prosperous multi-species cooperative union of multiple overlapping animal republics in California, the Republic of Calafia overlapped with the State of California (though humans remained unaware).

P-22 felt nervous as he started his speech. He realized what he was about to say might not be well received. “But we are an advanced democratic republic. And we should not allow our emotions to cloud our judgment. Today, I must vote against this measure.”

Other mountain lions in the chamber grumbled. Bears, bobcats, cats, coyotes, dogs, and wolves had already voted unanimously to kill the human in their own elected councils. Given that the human had killed a mountain lion, they expected the mountain lions to vote the same way. The other animals had voted to show support for their mountain lion brethren. They had assumed no mountain lion would dissent.

The Republic of Calafia forbid the murder of humans. And the republic strictly enforced the law. In 1972, humans in California had made it illegal to hunt mountain lions. In 1974, over the objections of the Confederation Council, California’s mountain lions voted by ballot initiative to constitutionally prohibit hunting and eating humans.

It had been a controversial law.

The mountain lions who had proposed the constitutional amendment argued that if mountain lions continued to hunt humans, humans would bring back legal mountain lion hunting. These mountain lions felt that this was the only way to keep the humans’ ban in place. History proved them right.

Humans made the law against murdering mountain lions permanent. And the other animals of California adopted this law for themselves.

But what if a human broke their own law? When a human murdered an animal, the law could be superseded. If two-thirds of the house representing whichever animal species had been murdered voted in favor, the Republic of Calafia could legally kill the human.

If that occurred, the President then dispatched the elite Dane’s Squad to find and kill the human. The Dane’s Squad was the brainchild of Rex Reagan, a Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Presidential First Dog, who had once served in the House of Dog. He argued that measures had to be taken to protect animals from predatory humans. Moreover, special forces had to be trained to track down the most dangerous predators of animals, humans. Regular military operations did not suffice for protection.

The Dane’s Squad proved a great success. Humans who made the mistake of coming to California to hunt wild animals in violation of the law tended to disappear if they remained in the state too long. The animals needed to protect their citizens from humans. The Dane’s Squad did just that. The highly trained elites of that group knew how to remove predators.

Here, P-22 argued in defense of a human who faced near certain execution at the hands of the animals. This human had killed a mountain lion. Both were out hunting (and not for each other) when they had crossed paths.

The human hunter had disguised himself as a large rabbit. Mistaking him for a perfect dinner, the mountain lion leaped on the human who cried out in pure terror. Realizing his mistake, the mountain lion pulled back. He then apologized and reached out his paw to comfort the human.

But the human did not understand. Terrified, he fired his gun, killing the mountain lion instantly. He then fainted. He awoke a few hours later and sobbed over the dead mountain lion.

The tragic killing of the mountain lion traumatized most animals in California. The murder served as a reminder. Even the most innocent animals could lose their life in a mere moment to a human. But the grief, sorrow, and angst soon turned to pure anger.

Humans declined to prosecute the human for murder. This decision outraged the animals. The humans refused to enforce their own law. A human had murdered a mountain lion and would not see one day behind bars. Animals demanded their government take action. If the humans would not act, animals needed to remove the predator themselves. Justice required it.

“Today, I must speak for the human who cannot speak for himself,” P-22 said. “Humans are an unusual species, possessed with great intelligence, but unable to speak our language. They build great machines and beautiful architectural structures.” P-22 loved the sparkling skyline of downtown Los Angeles. Griffith Park provided the finest views of the entire city.

“They create sublime music and spectacular fireworks shows that light up the night sky,” P-22 continued. P-22 loved his concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theatre. He had a private box at both theaters. He and his boyfriend, Cameron, an uncollared mountain lion who lived in Benedict Canyon, had their first date at a Hollywood Bowl concert. P-22 had dragged Cameron to a Madonna concert. Unlike P-22 who absolutely loved Madonna, Cameron couldn’t stand her. Yet realizing his opportunity with the handsome and ever hard-to-get P-22, he had gone anyway.

“Yet humans can also be violent, craven, and heartless,” P-22 observed. “In many places, they are bloodthirsty barbarians who kill us for sport. But in California, the humans are advanced. They revere us mountain lions and have made it illegal to hunt us since 1972. When the fate of mountain lions was decided at the ballot box, humans voted to protect us. Twice.”

P-22 swallowed. While he could take an unpopular stand, he could not show callousness. He could not ignore the horrifying tragedy that had taken place. Or dismiss the pain that animals felt about the loss of an innocent mountain lion. If he did so, he would persuade no one to spare the human. He would only persuade his colleagues to not like him.

“Let us remember the fun-loving cougar who filled the lives of so many with joy and love. Let us not forget his kittens, who have been deprived of a father. I feel their pain and their sorrow. Let us not forget our own trauma. We are reminded of the brevity and fragility of our own precious lives.” P-22 swallowed once more. “But let us also not forget the human.”

“SIT DOWN HENRIK!” One veteran mountain lion councilor hissed.

P-22 recognized the insult. His birth name was Henrik the Mountain Lion. But P-22 enjoyed his human-created name. It gave him a sense of cultural independence. Only his mom and boyfriend still called him “Henrik”. If a Councilor wanted to disrespect P-22 and try to get under his skin, the Councilor would refuse to call P-22 by his chosen name of “P-22” and instead would use his birth name..

P-22 ignored the heckler. “There is no due process for a human for whom we take out a depredation permit. He does not get to appear before us. He has no legal counsel provided. No right to plea. No right to a jury trial. No opportunity to tell his side of the story. Or not tell one at all. There is no burden of proof placed upon the prosecution, just a vote by us elected mountain lions who are beholden only to our voters. Not the rule of law or even the courts.”

“HUMAN LOVER!” Another veteran councilor hissed.

“The evidence persuades me this was a horribly tragic accident,” P-22 continued, “but an accident, nevertheless. The human did not hunt with the intent to kill a mountain lion. The human suffered a panic attack. He could not understand what our poor fallen brother said to him. Had this human intended to murder a mountain lion, he would not have waited to fire his weapon, fainted after firing his gun, cried over the death, called the authorities, and admitted he had killed the mountain lion. None of these acts are consistent with the actions of a true predator. If the human had intended to murder the mountain lion, he would have fled and attempted to conceal his crime.”

“YOU DON’T GET IT!” Yet another Councilor hissed. “YOU DON’T LIVE WITH HUMAN HUNTERS! YOU DON’T KNOW LOSS!”

P-22 grimaced. The Councilor reminded him of his own painful loss. His older brother, P-15, had been murdered by a human. And while he knew justice had been served, it would never bring back his fond memories of his older brother. Instead, it just brought back the feelings of pain, heartache, and vulnerability.

While triggered, P-22 ignored his fellow councilor. “We have every right to remove predators from Calafia. But this human is no predator. He is a human who made a tragic mistake. His life should be spared. If we truly value the life of a human, we must not value the life of the mountain lion greater than we do the human. Our emotions should not override our sense of empathy and justice. I will vote no.”

Two of P-22’s colleagues, M-166 and Robinson the Bear, watched P-22’s speech. A locally beloved Northern California mountain lion, M-166 served in the House of Mountain Lion with P-22. Robinson served in the House of Bear. He also served in the Dane’s Squad, where M-166 had once been his commander. Per the Dane’s Squad code, they both knew what happened to the human who murdered P-22’s older brother, P-15, though they could never reveal.

“That jerk forgot that a human murdered P-22’s older brother,” M-166 said. He held back his desire to hiss. “Some of the mountain lions I serve with lack all decency.”

“P-22 is brave,” Robinson said. “This is dangerous politics.”

“How so?”

“Captain, most mountain lions are crying out for blood. Actually, most animals are crying out for blood. He’s taking a stance that only an urban mountain lion could take. And there are only four urban mountain lions who serve in your entire chamber.”

There were few urban mountain lions. And even fewer who served in elected office. Urban districts in the House of Mountain Lion were the largest geographically due to the equal population requirement. Humans considered P-22 a rarity. But he was an even bigger rarity in mountain lion politics.

“And Captain,” Robinson continued, “I didn’t see the other three speak against this motion either.”

“Just because Caroline, Marc, and Jelani didn’t speak against, doesn’t mean they will vote in favor.”

Caroline the Mountain Lion lived in the Torrey Pines Reserve in San Diego. Marc the Mountain Lion (known to humans as “Mr. Handsome”) roamed San Francisco. Jelani the Mountain Lion roamed the Oakland Hills. They and P-22 were extremely close, often working together to represent the interests of California’s urban mountain lions.

“I’m not sure they won’t vote in favor. They may be reformers. But they’re still politicians, accountable to the public.” Robinson wryly smiled. “P-22 is right, of course. But I wouldn’t be caught dead voting against this, lest I anger my constituents.”

“P-22 is the conscience of the House of Mountain Lion. I’m honored he’s a friend.”

“Well, humans love you both.”

“He’s earned it. P-22 is the one who got legislation passed to change our adoption and foster codes to ensure that male mountain lions and female mountain lions are treated equally by statutory language in the kitten adoption process. He’s the one got tax breaks for urban den and cavern development. And he reformed our water well drinking system. No mountain lion works harder.”

Robinson rolled his eyes. He didn’t look down on M-166, though. He just found his colleague charmingly aloof.

“I say something odd, Robinson?”

“Captain, you tracked down one of the worst coyote killers in California history, solved some of our greatest cold case murders, reunited cougar kittens with their parents after a wildfire, and rescued some lost dogs in a blizzard. You’ve got awards of valor from every single one of your predator removal missions.”

M-166 blushed. “Your point?”

“Most animals consider you a police and military hero. And yet humans love you for eating wild horses.”

Wild horses overpopulated M-166’s territory, threatening the human owned ranches. By thinning the wild horse herds, M-166’s diet helped protect their ranches. In a part of California where humans had not traditionally liked mountain lions, M-166 won over many unlikely converts. Those humans who once believed that they should be allowed to legally hunt him grew to adore their mountain lion neighbor.

A blank expression crossed M-166’s face. “I’m no hero. I just like to eat dinner.”

“I doubt humans appreciate the effort P-22 is making to save one of their own.”

“They should.”

“Incredible he cares so much for a human, after one murdered P-15. Though we did get justice in that case.”

“Maybe.” M-166 frowned. “But P-22 will never get his older brother back.”

“But we did something else just.”

“Perhaps. It didn’t help P-22 though.” A buzzer sounded. M-166 sighed. “Time to vote.”

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Chapter 2

“The ayes are 245,” the Vice President hissed. “The noes are 1. The abstentions are 4. The Greater Calafia Mountain Lion Confederation orders that the Dane’s Squad may be dispatched to find and remove the subject human predator.”

Only P-22 had voted no. Caroline, Marc, and Jelani abstained. But surprising P-22 and somewhat lifting his spirits, M-166 had abstained.

“You didn’t vote in favor?” Robinson asked M-166. He wondered if M-166 had cast an erroneous vote.

“I’m too cowardly to vote no,” M-166 replied. “Like I should have. But there was no way I would vote yes after the heckling I heard. That hiss about P-22 not experiencing loss angered me. I have to support my friend.”

“Honestly, I’m sometimes surprised you two are friends.”

“Why?”

“You live in the most rural part of California with the fewest humans. P-22 lives in Los Angeles surrounded by four million humans.”

“We’re the only police officers who serve on the Greater Calafia Mountain Lion Confederation Council. It’s a natural bond.” P-22 had served as a police officer prior to being elected to the House of Mountain Lion. He still remained on the force, though, working part time.

“Your natural bonds notwithstanding, it will be difficult to explain your votes to constituents.”

“It’s the trouble with politics. You’ll be judged not for what you’ve done but for what the public thinks you’ve done.”

“Guess we’re experienced in that. We’re Dane’s Squad members. We never tell about what we’ve done and we never showboat.”

M-166 nodded.

“Think we should say something to P-22?” Robinson asked. Robinson had noticed P-22 sitting off in a corner of the Confederation Council chambers by himself, clearly crestfallen over his failure to persuade his colleagues to spare the human.

“I think he wants to be left alone. An innocent human is about to lose their life for making an honest mistake. If we catch him, all we will do is compound the pre-existing tragedy. It won’t bring back the deceased mountain lion for his family, friends, and community. But we will take away a human from his family, friends, and community. It’s not right under the circumstances. But only P-22 had the guts to say something about it.”

“Took bravery. As much as we needed to get justice for his older brother. If not more.”

“If only councilors knew what we did with that little black notebook we found during predator removal, they would know who the real ‘human lovers’ are.”

“I sometimes wish we could tell P-22 what we did. If not for adherence to Dane’s Squad Code, I would.”

M-166 grinned. “We can’t ever tell him. But he knows what happened.”

“How do you know?”

“If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have made that speech.”

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Chapter 3

P-15’s killer smirked as he parked at his Yosemite Motel. He lived in Idaho, where he could freely murder mountain lions. However, he hunted in California, flouting the silly law. He would get away with it. He had before. He would again.

The California laws made no sense. People should hunt horrible, predatory mountain lions. Though these stupid laws had a benefit. The mountain lions in California might not be as easy to hunt. It gave them a false sense of security. California mountain lions rarely foresaw the killing.

When he hunted P-15, P-15 had foolishly stopped and gazed at him. It almost seemed as if P-15 had smiled at him. P-15 made no attempt to escape and run away. P-15’s killer genuinely enjoyed hunting mountain lions. He enjoyed killing and sadistic torture. Doing that to humans was difficult and fraught with risk. But doing it to wild animals was easy.

As P-15’s killer walked into his hotel cabin, he failed to notice the black cat perched in the tree outside his cabin watching him.

“I’ve got a sighting of the human suspect,” Crozier the Cat said, as he radioed into the team. The rest of the Dane’s Squad concealed itself in the woods. “The suspect has entered his cabin. Dog teams, we need confirmation.”

P-15’s killer now inside his cabin and unaware of the Dane’s Squad’s presence, Lieutenant Sydney, a Labrador-Doberman mix, and two bloodhounds emerged from the woods. Trained to sniff out bombs and convicts, they sniffed the car for the scent of their suspect human. The Dane’s Squad had to confirm before carrying out the orders. On this mission, they had no room for mistake.

“We have a match,” Lieutenant Sydney said into her radio in after the dogs took some sniffs. “For both the killer and P-15.”

She paused before radioing in more information because something surprised her.

“It’s odd. The smell of both is emitting from a little black notebook.”

“Cat teams, maintain full surveillance of the cabin,” M-166 ordered. He would undertake the most dangerous part of the mission. Though as he surveyed the cabin, he felt no fear, just a rush of pure adrenaline.

A few hours later, P-15’s killer walked out of his cabin. The human had his hunting rifle and a device to mock a distressed fawn call.

“We have our suspect in site,” Crozier said into his radio. “He is leaving his cabin. He is alone and armed. Proceed with extreme caution.”

“All right,” M-166 said. “We got limited time. Let’s roll.”

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Chapter 4

P-15’s killer smiled. Only twenty minutes into the hunt, he had already found a prized mountain lion. This mountain lion had to be the most stupid he had ever encountered. He made no attempt to run or jump into a tree to hide. Instead, he seemed to put himself in the position where he could be most easily shot. This hunt would be one of the easiest he ever had.

P-15’s killer never noticed the cats watching him when he left his cabin. He never noticed them staking out his cabin when he walked in. And so deeply fixated on killing M-166, he never saw the two very large black bears and the spaniel quietly following right behind him. As he confidently aimed his rifle to get the perfect shot, he had no idea it would be the last shot he would ever attempt to take.

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Chapter 5

“Captain, you feel any regret?” Robinson asked. He and M-166 discarded the murderer’s items in a garbage dumpster to cover their tracks. Dog teams helped remove the human’s blood. They had been so effective in this action that neither one suffered any wounds.

“Of course I do,” M-166 said. “Dane’s Squad screens out any animal who enjoys taking a human life. But this human could have avoided his fate had he not murdered an innocent mountain lion. He left us with no other choice.”

“I suppose.” Robinson found these actions trying on his soul. He had to reconcile his beliefs about peaceful co-existence with humans and respect for life with his job. “I just wonder if any of his fellow humans will miss him.”

“Don’t do that yourself, Robinson.”

“Do what?”

“Let your guilt and sense of personal morality overtake you and make you doubt the mission. This is not pleasant work. It’s a necessary evil. Don’t ever enjoy what we have to do to certain humans. But don’t doubt it’s importance. We removed a predator from California. We’ve saved countless lives today. That’s all you need to remember.”

Robinson nodded. If for no other reason than that M-166 outranked him, he would not argue with his captain. As he sifted through the human’s belongings, he stumbled across something bizarre, a little black notebook.

“What’s this?” Robinson gave the little black notebook to M-166. “Lieutenant Sydney used it to identify P-15 and the human when she sniffed his car.”

“A black notebook.” M-166 opened it. “It’s got human currency inside too.” A shiver ran down his spine. “It’s 20,000 dollars, cash.”

“How do you know?”

“At the academy, they taught me how to count human money to become unit commander.”

“What did he have all that for?”

“It’s blood money. It’s probably what he sold P-15’s trophy head for. Our murder is a business for them.”

Robinson shivered. It compounded the horror that some humans still hunted wild animals for sport. Animals sometimes broke the law to kill humans. But when they did so, their motives never related to profit. The constitutional provisions now prohibited it. Humans had a profit motive to encourage their evil acts against the animals.

“I guess this is all a mountain lion’s life means to one of them,” Robinson said.

“Apparently so.” M-166 shook his head. This murderer had never considered P-15’s life. He had never considered P-15’s goals, dreams, family members, or even his friends. He had just seen an opportunity to make some quick cash. M-166 still struggled to understand the callousness. “But this is why we do what we must. California’s animals will not survive on human good will alone. We must take our own action.”

“What do we do with this blood money, then?” Robinson asked. “We have to destroy it, right?”

Before M-166 could answer, a haggard looking golden retriever startled them. Both trembled. Their cover might be blown.

“Hi Mr. Bear, Hi Mr. Mountain Lion. Don’t mind me. I’m just searching the dumpsters for food.” A typical California dog, the golden retriever didn’t fear the two wild animals. In a historic 1968 referendum, California’s bears, bobcats, cats, dogs, mountain lions, and wolves all voted to ban the hunting of one another. It had helped create the broader republic.

“Us too,” M-166 said. He couldn’t blow their cover. Animals in the Dane’s Squad had to act covertly to ensure the success of these operations. “You can go ahead of us. No deer or rabbits in there.”

“Thank you,” the golden retriever said.

“We didn’t know any humans lived around here,” M-166 said. “You a stray?”

“Nah. My pet human is homeless. He’s living out of his car. When he takes naps, I go out and look for food.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“He’s always feeding me first. The least I can do is make sure I feed him. He is my pet, after all.” In California, dogs and cats who lived with humans considered the humans to be their pets, not vice versa. It had become an article of faith. “As his legal guardian, I have a duty to care for him.”

“That’s noble of you.”

“Yeah, he lost his job. He has severe depression and anxiety. And he needs medication to work. The medication really helps him a lot. But without his job, he has no health insurance to pay for the medication. So, he’s struggled to find new work. Plus, a developer evicted us from our rent-controlled apartment. He can’t find a new place without money. He’s got the car though.”

“How terrible.”

“Humanity is flawed. It’s the price we dogs pay for taking them as pets.”

“He a hunter?”

“Absolutely not! I love my pet human more than anything. But I would never tolerate a hunter. If I couldn’t train him to stop, I’d get rid of him and find a new pet.”

M-166 nodded.

“He’s a very talented architect. He’s just had some bad luck.”

“My friend and I found this little black notebook. We can’t use what’s in it. But perhaps you and your pet human might.”

“Is it food?”

“Almost as good. It’s 20,000 in human currency.”

The golden retriever lit up. “Really?”

“Absolutely. I know how to count human currency and I count to the last dollar and cent.”

“And you don’t want it?” The dog excitedly but nervously asked, suddenly wondering if perhaps this friendly mountain lion and friendly bear would change their minds.

“Nope.”

“Not even you Mr. Bear?”

Robinson shook his head. “I’m not as picky an eater as my friend here. I’m a bear so I’ll eat just about anything. But like my pal says, it’s not food.”

Robinson had misgivings. This was blood money. Perhaps it should just be destroyed. But whatever Robinson’s doubts, he could not question his commander’s decision or reveal their identities. M-166 had made the decision.

“It’s all yours.” M-166 gave the black notebook to the golden retriever.

“Thank you, Mr. Mountain Lion! Thank you, Mr. Bear!” The dog barked.

As the dog trotted off, Robinson turned to M-166.

“Are you sure we made the right choice there? It is blood money. I feel like we should have thrown it away.”

“Yup. Something good had to come from this. We won’t get P-15 back for his family. We can do something positive though from this horror. When you next question your conscience, you’ll remember that you’re a member of the Dane’s Squad for a reason. It’s never because of your hatred for humanity or your desire to obtain revenge.”

Robinson nodded. He couldn’t second guess what they had done. Not now.

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Chapter 6

The golden retriever returned to the car with the little black notebook, his pet human still asleep. When his human awoke, he barked at him and dropped the little black notebook in his lap.

“I forgot I even had that.” The human opened it. His eyes joyously widened.

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Chapter 7

“I’m sorry, M-166,” P-22 said. “I didn’t notice you were still in the chambers.” In his sadness over the vote to issue a depredation permit against the human, P-22 had gotten distracted and lost track of his friends.

“Not a problem. I appreciate your bravery. You’re right. Sometimes a mountain lion must speak for the human who cannot speak for himself. I’m only sorry that some of our colleagues forgot about your own personal loss. Makes me angry.”

“Thank you for not voting in favor. That took courage. Not that you ever lacked for it.” P-22 then stared deeply into M-166’s eyes. “Thank you.”

1. The author of this article is an attorney licensed to practice in the State of California and the District of Columbia. This article and all of the works on this Substack page are statements of the opinions of the author, only, and do not constitute legal advice; they are not intended to be relied upon by any individual or entity in any transaction or other legal matter, past, pending, or future. A paid subscription to this Substack page supports the author’s scholarship and provides access to research that the author has compiled, but does not establish an attorney-client relationship. The author does not accept unsolicited requests for legal advice or representation, and this Substack page is not intended as legal advertising. The opinions expressed on this Substack page reflect the personal views of the author only.