Exotic Animals Escape in Zanesville, OH - 49/56 Killed

Most of you from Ohio have already heard about this.

What do you think about this? Was it ok for the guy to own these animals in the first place? The town was completely shut down this morning as a result of the loose animals - schools closed, the post office closed, everyone was terrified (and who wouldn't be, with so many wild predators on the loose?). Jack Hanna (of the Columbus Zoo) defended the deputies killing the animals, given that tranquilizers were not readily available and trained personnel also were not available to aid very quickly in this case. Would you have done the same thing if you were in charge? Do you think that Zoos would have been willing to take on so many exotic animals who had been kept on a *farm* for an unknown amount of time?

This story, and especially the photo, make me sad.. but mostly at the guy who owned these animals and contributed to the industry of their capture and trade. He also let them loose (allegedly) and essentially put them all to death.

 

Here's what I think:

Also, that guy was a fucking asshole.

 

I heard about this on the radio and was about to google it when i saw your blog post. It is sad. I have to wonder what the man was thinking. Was he thinking of their welfare, setting them free because he wouldn't be able to care for them? Trying to take a few in the town with him? Or just trying to go out with a bang and make more headlines than his suicide alone? I wish authorities could have tranquilized more of them, but where would they put the animals before the drugs wore off? That was alot of animals. I have not googled it yet to see if it was a private "collection" or a refuge of sorts. Scary and sad.

 

I forgot to link to my source in my post.. the Columbus Dispatch (www.dispatch.com) has quite a few stories about this situation on their front page right now.

 

A friend in OH just sent me this: 18 Bengal Tigers, 7 male and 8 female lions put down.

That's nearly 1% of the known population of Bengal tigers, I believe.

Terrible news.

 

No one without the proper personal and facility should be allowed to own these animals. These are not pets. These are wild animals. Places like the wilds are built for keeping animals like this safe and keeping the animals from harming people. It would of been great to tranquilize these animals rather than shoot them. But given the fact it was 50 animals lose at once that makes it really hard to do without alot of trained personal. I think this all comes down to we need better laws against stuff like this.

 

sad,sad situation..........i tend to love animals,and hate people more and more......

 

Gaddafi killed; Mauled by tiger in Ohio

 

On the one hand, I want to just roll my eyes and say "only in Ohio."

On the other hand, I'm kinda pissed--that this guy owned them in the first place, that he released them, that they had to be killed.

And on the other hand (I have three hands today), it makes me sad.

 

Stupid, selfish evil bastard. Looks like he ended up like a hoarder. There is a big cat sanctuary set up and run by a former actress in the states, where zoos cant help, sanctuarys can. One would have thought people could have been advised to stay indoors and stuff whilst tranquelisers were being flown in - there must have been some in a town with animals in and covering rural areas - how many did they save with what they had? Poor infected chimp and wolf - such little hope for them, lost, abandoned betrayed and hunted. Makes you wish for them to escape and make it doesnt it - ridiculously Disney hope for them and their great escape.
They knew he had all these animals, that he was breeding more (which isnt rescue). Mankind often sickens me.

 

For what it's worth, this happened at night, in a rainstorm, and there were zoo staff (including veterinarians and zookeepers) on hand trying to help contain the animals. They were in a shitty situation with very little information about the animals (how heavy they were, when they last ate, etc.) that *might* have allowed more of the animals to be tranquilized successfully. As it was, the situation was too dangerous to capture more than a few of the animals, so they were all destroyed. I don't just blame the guy who owned them - I blame law enforcement and the state for allowing him to own these animals in the first place, given his history. He had been previously convicted of animal abuse, and served jail time on weapons charges. Not exactly a model citizen.

 

Lame excuses for bloodthirsty barbarism typical of american gun-toting militants wearing badges.

 

One of the most famous zookeepers in the world was advising them and approved of their actions.

I'd like to see you go up against a 300 pound tiger (let alone 18 of them) in the dark, rain, in unfamiliar territory, and try to get it tranquilized and secured.

 

These were not domestics. No buddy ever owned them. While disturbed by the actions of those who killed them, I also don't see that they had any alternative.
It was a tragic loss of life, none human.

 

I can't believe a single individual can 'own' so many wild animals. This was a regulatory fail of the highest order.

It makes me sad what occurred, but did authorities (after the release) have that much choice?

 

I guess, in his somewhat distorted head, the chap thought of himself and his enterprise as being like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkB0WGImaQw. If he had asked for help, some of the dead could now be alive and safe at Zion Park with Craig and his team.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkB0WGImaQw
--- merged: Oct 21, 2011 8:52 AM ---
Interestingly, in the episode they talk about the checks and things that Craig has to pass to be able to keep his big cats.
--- merged: Oct 21, 2011 8:59 AM ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=mPBOA2pGPFI How many were like Jupiter but scared?

 

I'm no fan of the police, in general, but I don't think that this incident makes your case. They had people to protect and hard decisions were made. These decisions were not solely made by the police. The blame lies in the guy who decided to keep a bunch of dangerous animals, then release them. I don't thing he should have ever been allowed to keep them.

 

The Kiwi chap had to have licences and his enclosures and buildings were inspected, and still are regularly. I was thinking of the frustration of those who repeatedly reported him and knew nothing was done except an odd 'visit'. Do you think your own laws need to be changed cayvman?
If people keep dangerous animals, should they not need a licence like having a shot gun over here - hoops to jump through, so many hoops only the committed with jump them all? Must all their deaths be for nothing. Was particularly horrified that they were chasing away people who wanted to grab corpse parts as trophys. Only exotic animal corpse parts of course - doubt they were dedicated road kill hunters.

 

Interesting, but not surprising, twist to the story:

Speaking honestly, I like animals more than I like people. But this is unconscionable. Hoarding animals—which he was, let's not lie—does not equate loving them, especially ones as endangered as many of these were.

 

What an incredibly uninformed and biased statement.