Man Strangles Neighbor's Kangaroo To Death For Allegedly Attacking His Wife

A Tennessee man strangled his neighbor's pet Kangaroo to death claiming that the animal attacked his wife.

The incident took place on Dec. 22 in Summer County, Tennessee. The Summer County Sheriff'S Department responded to the house at around 5 p.m. after someone notified them that two persons were fighting over a Kangaroo, WHNT News 19 reported.

The 5-foot, 60-pound kangaroo had reportedly escaped its enclosure and was roaming free. Neighbors alerted its owners, Hope and Chris Lea, about the animal's escape. The owner couple wasn't home at that time but they told the neighbors where they could find its feed to lure the animal back into its enclosure, WHNT News 19 reported. Hope and Chris told them they would be home in one hour and will take care of the situation.

The Kangaroo then headed into its usual confinement, where the woman was allegedly assaulted by the animal. The woman's husband then allegedly stepped in and killed the animal, Daily Caller reported.

Chris told News 4 Nashville that the neighbors falsely told them the kangaroos left their property. "(My neighbors) made it sound like (the kangaroos) were out in their property, and they’ll get after dogs and whatnot, but that wasn’t the case," he told the outlet. "They never left our property."

Chris said he received another call shortly after. "And he says, ‘I’m strangling the kangaroo now. He grabbed my wife. I’m going to kill him. He’s dangerous. Y’all need to keep your (expletive) animals contained," the caller, who killed the Kangaroo, told Chris.

"They were contained. They were still in my perimeter fence on my property."

No charges have been filed against the man who killed the Kangaroo, named Carter, but Chris said he plans to file a civil lawsuit against him.

"It’s a lot of unknown answered questions that will probably never be answered, to be honest with you," Chris told the outlet. "We love these animals like they’re our kids. He didn’t deserve to be choked and strangled to death."

The Leas told WHNT that they returned to find Carter dead, with small joeys circling around his body.

"I was screaming because all of the babies were standing around his dead body and I was just so upset," Hope told the outlet. "He didn’t have nowhere to go," Chris said. "He was choked to death in his own space."