This photo ran on the front page. Editors rejected the one visible nearby, reasoning that the photo used in the paper showed the size of the bobcat relative to a person.

More Photos (1):

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Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Construction
West-Press
Printing Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Trades/Construction
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MAINTANANCE POSITION Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic

Nearly two dozen readers called or wrote to voice their disgust with the Star for the front-page photo Wednesday of the rabid bobcat that attacked a golfer and was clubbed to death.

Lannie Hartman said the photo "hurt my soul so bad. It was not the animal's fault that it was sick and not in its right mind.'' What disturbed her most were the signs of the battering and the torn flesh. "There's enough violence in our lives,'' she said.

Ruth West called the photo horrible and said that "as an animal lover I wouldn't want to see a person beaten to death, either.''

Rita Irwin-Davidson said she was shocked and immediately turned the paper over.

Others mentioned that they had had no chance to shield their children from the image.

Randy Copleman e-mailed Publisher & Editor John M. Humenik to ask: "What is your staff thinking?"

I was in the meeting when the photo was discussed, along with a dozen editors and reader Melinda Sims, a retired Air Force officer living on the Northwest Side, who was sitting in on the news conference.

All were welcome to weigh in. Assistant Managing Editor Jill Jorden Spitz sat so she wouldn't see the photos projected individually onto a 6-by- 8-foot wall space that acts as a screen. She said she didn't want to see the dead cat. Hers was the only objection.

The two pictures accompanying this column were considered.

The photo on the right shows the cat on the pavement, and the one on the left shows a paramedic holding the cat. That photo had been online at www.azstarnet.com for hours before the news meeting. Editors favored the one on the left, of the paramedic holding the cat, for the front page because:

● It showed what a bobcat looks like. You can see its face and fur.

● It showed how big the cat was and gave perspective compared with the size of a man.

● You could see its paws. In some parts of town you can see the paw prints of animals, but never see the animal itself.

● It reflected what had happened in Tucson that day. This was the animal that attacked a golfer.

If you'd like to sit in on an upcoming news meeting, let me know and I'd be happy to invite you.