Additionally, the Keenesburg Wildlife Sanctuary publicly offered to care for the animals at their facility if Lion’s Gate was unable to do so.” 
 
 Wilcox said he did not know the outcome of this would result in the animals being euthanized. On April 12, Elbert County commissioners unanimously voted to deny the sanctuary’s request to move from eastern Elbert County to a location near Elizabeth, the Denver Post reported. Facility owners Peter Winney and Joan Laub reasoned in their statement last week that they wouldn’t have had to euthanize the animals if the local government officials had not denied their request to move. BEFORE YOU GO PHOTO GALLERY Animal Sanctuary Euthanizes Lions, Tigers And Bears After Flooding Concerns 
 
 County Chairman Danny Wilcox, who was one of the three voting commissioners, said the new location the group chose was in a more urban and populated area, making the conditions unsafe for the general public. Wilcox said the board pointedly asked the owners what would happen to the animals if their request to move was denied, and they said they’d “continue to operate as they had for the last 10 years.” 
 
 “They believe that we made them euthanize the animals. A spokeswoman for Siegfried & Roy characterized Winney’s role with the showmen as in a “junior capacity.” 
 
 Winney is “not an expert, if that’s the impression,” said spokeswoman Kala Peterson. The three county commissioners denied the permit based upon emotions and their self-serving agenda, i.e., votes.” 
 
 In a statement emailed Wednesday evening, the Elbert County Commissioners described themselves as shocked and saddened by the news: “The decision by the operators of Lion’s Gate to euthanize all their animals comes as a total surprise to the County for two reasons. Only two weeks earlier, the operators of the facility assured the County in a public forum that if the application was denied, they would continue to operate at their current location as they had for the previous 10 years.
– Amid a "shocking" tragedy, locals say something smells fishy in central Colorado. On April 12, after the owners of the Lion's Gate wild animal sanctuary requested to move to a nearby but more urban location citing safety concerns after recurring flooding on the property, Elbert County commissioners voted no, citing safety concerns, reports the Denver Post. Then on April 20, the sanctuary suddenly euthanized all 11 of its animals—three lions, three tigers, and five bears—and the Lion's Gate web site went dark, showing only the words, "This account has been suspended." The owner of a nearby, larger sanctuary says he had offered to take the animals, but co-owner Dr. Joan Laub and a sanctuary volunteer say the senior animals wouldn't have survived a move to a larger sanctuary and that the county commission's vote forced the sanctuary's hand, reports CBS4. On a Care2 Petition page launched months ago, Laub wrote that Colorado Parks and Wildlife had authorized a move to 85 acres the sanctuary also owns in a more urban part of the county, though she listed 18 animals at the time. County Chairman Danny Wilcox, meanwhile, tells Huffington Post that the commission is "shocked" the animals were put down after the owners had said they'd continue to operate if their request was denied. A spokeswoman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife calls the killings unprecedented: "This has never happened before in our state." One of the owners was once accused of smuggling cats, per the Denver Post in 2006, and the owner of the larger sanctuary theorizes to the Huffington Post that issues with licensing made it difficult for Lion's Gate to get funding. (See why this vet killed herself with a euthanasia drug.)