October 20, 2011 6:58 AM

Sadness, resignation over Zanesville animals

Animal bodies are seen scattered near a barn at the Muskingum County Animal Farm, near Zanesville, Ohio, Oct. 19, 2011. (WBNS)

(AP) 

ZANESVILLE, Ohio - Amid expressions of horror and revulsion at the killing of dozens of wild animals in Ohio — and photographs of their bloody carcasses — animal rights advocates agreed there was little local authorities could have done to save the dangerous creatures once they began roaming the countryside after their owner released them before taking his own life.

Sheriff's deputies shot 48 animals — including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions — after Terry Thompson, owner of the private Muskingum County Animal Farm near Zanesville, threw their cages open Tuesday and then committed suicide.

"What a tragedy," said veterinarian Barb Wolfe, of The Wilds animal preserve sponsored by the Columbus Zoo. "We knew that ... there were so many dangerous animals at this place that eventually something bad would happen, but I don't think anybody really knew it would be this bad."

As the hunt winded down on Wednesday, a photo showing the remains of tigers, bears and lions lined up and scattered in an open field went viral provoking visceral reactions among viewers, some of whom expressed their anger and sadness on social networking sites.

Some local townspeople also were saddened by the deaths. At a nearby Moose Lodge, Bill Weiser said: "It's breaking my heart, them shooting those animals."

Authorities said the slain animals would be buried on Thompson's farm.

Will Travers, chief executive of the California-based Born Free USA animal welfare and wildlife conservation organization, said police had no choice but to take the action they did.

"It's a tragedy for these particular animals, for no fault of their own they've been shot, and I can see how difficult that decision was for the police," he said.

Jack Hanna, TV personality and former director of the Columbus Zoo, also defended the sheriff's decision to kill the animals, calling deaths of the endangered Bengal tigers especially tragic.

The animals destroyed also included six black bears, two grizzlies, a baboon, a wolf and three mountain lions. Six — three leopards, a grizzly bear and two monkeys — were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo.

"It's like Noah's Ark wrecking right here in Zanesville, Ohio," Hanna said.

A wolf was later found dead, leaving a monkey as the only animal possibly still unaccounted for in the mostly rural community of farms, widely spaced homes and wooded areas about 55 miles east of Columbus.

While the sheriff's office said early Thursday that the search for the monkey was still active, Sheriff Matt Lutz said the animal may no longer be a concern. "He was in an area where one of the cats actually killed one of the monkeys, and we feel he could have been eaten by one of the cats," Lutz told WCMH-TV.

Officers were ordered to kill the animals instead of trying to bring them down with tranquilizers for fear that those hit with darts would escape in the darkness before they dropped and would later regain consciousness.

"These animals were on the move, they were showing aggressive behavior," Lutz said at a news conference. "Once the nightfall hit, our biggest concern was having these animals roaming."

Veterinarian Wolfe had tried to save a tiger in a heavy bramble by using a tranquilizer dart, but the animal charged her then tried to flee. It had to be shot and killed by sheriff's deputies.

"I was about 15 feet from him and took a shot, and it didn't respond too much, and I thought we were OK, but within about 10 seconds he roared and started toward me," she said.

Sheriff's Deputy Jonathan Merry, among the first to respond on Tuesday, said he shot a number of animals, including a gray wolf and a black bear who charged him from 7 feet away. He said he's an animal lover and only took pride in knowing he was protecting the community.

"All these animals have the ability to take a human out in the length of a second," he said.

The Humane Society of the United States criticized Gov. John Kasich for allowing a statewide ban on the buying and selling of exotic pets to expire in April and called for an emergency rule to crack down on exotic animals until the state comes up with a permanent legal solution.

"Every month brings a new, bizarre, almost surreal incident involving privately-held, dangerous wild animals," Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society, said in a statement. "In recent years, Ohioans have died and suffered injuries. ... Owners of large, exotic animals are a menace to society, and it's time for the delaying on the rulemaking to end."

Activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also called for emergency regulations and pointed the finger at Gov. John Kasich, saying the incident should serve as his "wake-up call."

"Surely, after this latest incident, enough blood has been shed for the state to take action," the group said in a statement.

Ohio has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them.

Born Free USA says it has tracked 1,500 attacks on humans or other animals, and escapes by exotic animals since 1990, with 86 being in Ohio. Travers said there's an urgent need for legislation that addresses the competency of Ohioans seeking to own exotic pets and owners' ability to provide for the animals' welfare as well as public safety.

"Legislation should be there to protect the animals from the people and to protect the people from the animals," he said.

Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said Wednesday the governor had called on Lutz to commend the job he had done and to ask him to be part of the process of putting into law what the executive order failed to do.

"Clearly, we need tougher laws. We haven't had them in this state. Nobody's dealt with this, and we will. And we'll deal with it in a comprehensive way," Kasich said earlier in the day at a meeting of Dix Communications editors at which The Associated Press was present.

The Ohio Veterinary Medical Association also called for exotic animal regulations. U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland called the deaths of the escaped animals preventable.

"By enacting more stringent restrictions on owning exotic pets in Ohio, tragedies like this one can be avoided in the future," he said in a statement.

Thompson, 62, had had repeated run-ins with the law and his neighbors. Lutz said that the sheriff's office had received numerous complaints since 2004 about animals escaping onto neighbors' property. The sheriff's office also said that Thompson had been charged over the years with animal cruelty, animal neglect and allowing animals to roam.

He had gotten out of federal prison just last month after serving a year for possessing unregistered guns.

Thompson had rescued some of the animals at his preserve and purchased many others, said Columbus Zoo spokeswoman Patty Peters.

It was not immediately clear how Thompson managed to support the preserve and for what purpose it was operated, since it was not open to the public. But Thompson had appeared on the "Rachael Ray Show" in 2008 as an animal handler for a zoologist guest, said show spokeswoman Lauren Nowell.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 58 Comments
by markamichaud October 20, 2011 11:01 AM EDT
What is sad is 7 billion people and 200 bengal tigers left in the wild. I wish that the wild animals could start taking some humans out because we seem to be so dumb to not understand that we are ensuring our extinction by not controling human births.
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by credibility2 October 20, 2011 11:00 AM EDT
Jack Hanna needs to spend more quality time around humans and develop healthy relationships with people, instead of his perpetual love affair with wild animals. Initially, he even stated that it was virtually impossible to sedate animals at nighttime, since even during the daylight, it was very difficult. These were wild animals, meant to be in the wild, not around people. Law enforcement did the right thing by shooting them.
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by mooring7 October 20, 2011 10:55 AM EDT
While there is a sense of concern for the animals and with that is the rush to judgement of the actions of the police. Jack Hanna is an animal expert however he cannot control two important eliments of this event. They were not just wild animals they were hungry animals and day turns into night and not even Jack Hanna can guarantee that a hungry wild animal in a populated area at night can be seen let alone tranquilized.
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by markamichaud October 20, 2011 11:03 AM EDT
Wrong...these were scared animals.
by bobnjersey October 20, 2011 10:41 AM EDT
["Legislation should be there to protect the animals from the people and to protect the people from the animals," ]
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animals understand legislation?
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by apolon69 October 20, 2011 10:40 AM EDT
You guys/police department, you all suck. you are useless. you should call a specialist animal experts to assist. not kill those animals which not even rats or sick dogs.
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by Forty-Four October 20, 2011 10:46 AM EDT
PAY ATTENTION TO THE STORY!
by rednecklogic October 20, 2011 10:40 AM EDT
KIll all the animals on the planet, cut down all the trees, and strip it of all materials. That should cause the extinction of humans and maybe evolution will create a better species than us.
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by barkinghere October 20, 2011 10:32 AM EDT
The only TV personalities I consider worthy of admiration and expertise for the conservation of endangered animals and species are Sir David Attenborough and Jean Michel Cousteau.
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by Riverjump October 20, 2011 10:22 AM EDT
Tough on those critters, but the time factor was what played the most important part here. Lions, tigers and bears running around neighborhoods at night? Oh my! A few might have been saved however with tranquilizers. You know how the cops are. Bang bang!
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by Forty-Four October 20, 2011 10:35 AM EDT
No. Tranqs are not guaranteed to work. If you don't have enough dose, you make the animal mad. If you have too much, you kill it anyway. There wasn't enough time to get all of that in order. Lives were at stake. Plus, what if you miss? Now you wasted a dart, I'm sure you aren't going to pass that animal on your way to get the dart are you? I wouldn't expect most people to know what is going through the mind of an officer who has his/her gun drawn in that type of situation. They aren't "trigger happy."
by DenverBroncofan October 20, 2011 10:08 AM EDT
skyk1...you really should consider rehab
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by Zinezz October 20, 2011 9:42 AM EDT
Oh Wow, I was not prepared to see thoes wonderful beauitiful animals lay dead post being slaughtered.I feel sick and sad inside. *** is wrong with this pitcure? Thank God no humans were killed , I am suprised that is the case. But this is a political issue because law makeres need to get off ther overly pampered elitist arses and do the sensable thing and create stiff laws preventing people from hoarding wild animals. This just makes me sick! Also while were at it how about making mental health services availble to the psychos out there who do stupid crazy sh.t like what this dude did. If individuals had access to needed services then this situation may have been prevented along with countless others happening all over the place. Ya know right?!
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