Humane Society doesn't fault Ohio authorities in animal deaths

[OhioChick]

Source: CNN

2:02 PM EST, Wed October 19, 2011

(CNN) -- The Humane Society of the United States said Wednesday it does not fault authorities in Ohio for using lethal force against exotic animals running loose.

Police believe the animals' owner, Terry Thompson, 62, freed the animals -- lions, tigers, leopards and grizzly bears -- at his preserve near Zanesville, Ohio, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said.

Ohio authorities were called to the scene Tuesday night. As of Wednesday, they were still hunting at least three exotic animals, including a mountain lion and a grizzly bear.

A preliminary investigation showed Thompson had pried open cages and left fences open, Lutz said. Autopsy results on Thompson were pending.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/us/ohio-animals/

[FSogol]

1. Thompson had also been charged with mistreating the animals in the past.

Disoriented, hungry, and abused predators suddenly freed is a recipe for disaster.

[aquart]

2. Horrible.

[FSogol]

3. Agreed. n/t

[KamaAina]

16. And Gov. Kasich (R-Teabagger) allowed an executive order to expire

that would have prevented Thompson from owning the animals, for that precise reason. :grr:

[tropicanarose]

4. When I read this headline about this story this morning, I couldn't read it as it was too sickening

So sad. I wish that there were stun guns of some kind that they could use in situations like this......it is such a waste of life. I do understand that these are wild animals and they have to protect people.
I simply cannot stand animal cruelty. Heartbreaking

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Nice idea, but you are not going to take down a lion or bear with a taser.

And while trank guns sound like a good idea, the amount of tranquilizer must be adjusted for the partiular animal - what would put a lion to sleep would kill a mountain lion, what would put a mountain lion would barely faze a lion. If you don't know which you're going to run into the only sad option is a rifle.

[tropicanarose]

14. I realize that. I was merely expressing my desire for a better method than killing. (nm)

[AngryOldDem]

10. It's not cruelty.

These animals were aggressive. Public safety comes first.

For cruelty, look to Thompson for keeping them in a domesticated situation in the first place.

[tropicanarose]

15. I agree about public safely being paramount. I just cannot stand animals being shot and killed like

that. It is a horrible waste of life. Beautiful creatures murdered because of some whack job who kept them in captivity. It is very sad and tragic IMO

[Cirque du So-What]

5. Definitely worth reading

Perhaps the words of a regulatory specialist with the Humane Society will - at long last - put an end to the outrage being directed toward those charged with protecting the public. It probably won't change the minds of those who insist upon blaming the authorities for doing their job, but it certainly points out the speciousness of their argument. In the words of Jack Hanna quoted in the article: 'People have to understand something ... human life comes first.'

Also worth noting is the blame laid at the feet of repug governor Kasich for failing to address the problem of people keeping exotic animals in cages. The previous Democratic governor - Ted Strickland - is lauded for attempting to do something about it before leaving office.

[StarryNite]

18. Absolutely!

I couldn't agree more! This whole thing is the result of that psycho letting the animals loose, not the authorities who had the dirty task of mopping up after what he did! The psycho should have just killed himself and prior to that he should have notified the authorities to come and rescue the animals. They could all still be alive.

[sandyj999]

6. The laws need to be tightened and the black market in exotic animals should be stopped. nt

[SkyDaddy7]

11. You nailed it!! +1000 nt.

[hyphenate]

19. It's never going to happen

when there is money to be made from loose laws, or any kind of lucrative business opportunity.

Too many people in this world treat all animals like shit, and there are few enough advocates of the animals in this world. I know--I've spent 25 years as an animal rights activist, and I can't tell you how many times I've been insulted, branded and looked at like I was nuts.

People should look into what are called "canned hunts." This is a sickening activity, where former tamed animals, who have been in zoos or wild animal parks, for instance are taken to a "refuge" where assholes pretend they're hunters, and kill these animals CLOSE UP so they can hang a trophy head on the wall. These animals, who have been raised in captivity, who have learned to trust humans all their lives, are betrayed in the end. There are SO many people out there who are involved in this kind of shit, that I have lost all faith in human nature when I hear about this kind of this stuff.

I've had people blatantly ask me why I give to animal charities and not to human charities; can you imagine how much arrogance must be summoned in order to ask someone that? It's my money--what little I have--I can do with it whatever I damned wish to do with it!

There must be a limit to what horrors we perpetrate on animals, because just when I think I've seen it all, I see worse than every before.

[sandyj999]

20. I am totally with you. Canned hunts are disgusting and no sport at all.

I feel the same about bait piles for deer. Lazy way to hunt.

[Dont call me Shirley]

7. So sad about Terry. Does anyone know his story?

Was he diagnosed with grave illness? Was he facing forclosure? Did he lose his job or pension? Was he unable to care for animals anymore? So sad he felt this was his only option. We need not have a world where we don't take care of the caretakers. Caretakers are true heros.

[SkyDaddy7]

13. All I know is he had been in trouble with the law...

having to do with mistreatment of the animals in his care. Law enforcement was very familiar with him according to the press conference I saw.

Yes, it is sad when someone takes their own life but when they do it & try to hurt or kill others in the process, which appears to be the case, it makes it really hard to have any sympathy.

[Doremus]

17. Dunno, but he let bison and cattle die on his property in the past.

Not a nice way to go, starvation.

Rat bastard should rot in hell.

[Demstud]

26. According to people who knew him, he had mental health problems

This was told to me from my mother as I was not awake when the news story ran, but apparently people who knew him said he was a veteran who hadn't been the same since returning from Vietnam. Sounds like he had some bad mental health problems for quite awhile, though I don't know specifics.

[AngryOldDem]

9. What choice did they have?

Presser on now -- apparently a monkey that is loose is apparently infected with Herpes B, extremely dangerous to humans. Shoot-on-sight orders have been given there as well.

The saddest thing about this is that 18 of the tigers were Bengals, an endangered species.

What will it take to make this kind of "farm operation" illegal?

[MsFlorida]

12. worried -- this is close to my elderly parents house

My mom and dad are good, good people. While the neighbors stripped the land bare, they kept the trees and the backyard mostly a natural habitat so the animals that lived there would still have a place to live (deer, etc etc)

They also rescue BIG dogs, the ones that no one else seems to want to take.

I just want my mom and dad to be safe and I hate that one of these magnificent animals should have to die to keep them that way, but my mom and dad are more important.

This is where regulations need to be made and enforced.

From what I remember, this is just one of many of these types of places in ohio.

Not so long ago, minks and other types of these animals were let loose from a mink farm. They ate people's pet cats and dogs.

[GKirk]

21. A mink can eat a dog or a cat?

I didn't know they would do that.

[Javaman]

23. Carivores.

They eat small game. cats and small dogs aren't outside their ability.

[Codeine]

25. Minks do not eat dogs and cats.

They prey on smaller fish and eggs, baby birds if they get lucky.

[Doremus]

27. 90% of the minks were placed back in their pens.

The rest were road kill.


You may rest easy. The maniacal 2-pound minks won't be attacking your parents now or anytime in the future, I'm sure. :eyes:

[MsFlorida]

30. the minks were far away, the tigers almost next door...

n/t

[Javaman]

22. The heart breaking part for me was the loss of the 18 Bengal Tigers...

there are only 1400 left in the world. It is entirely possible they will be completely extinct in the wild in a very short time.

this asshole that killed himself, had 18 of them. 18! And he treated them like crap.

The heart breaking stories from the personnel that had to take down these poor creatures are tragic.

I'm glad this bastard killed himself, while we can't save more than the 6 other animals that are still alive, it will prevent him from hurting more endangered species.

18 Bengal Tigers. Damn.

[Blue_Tires]

28. I still want to know what made him want to shoot himself

why he let the animals loose, and how he could even afford to buy, house and feed that many...And why did he need that many animals to begin with?? (Assuming his widow is telling the truth about him not selling or dealing them)

[Javaman]

29. I seriously doubt he wasn't selling or dealing.

Like people who have a hording mentality, I think this guy horded these animals. I think at first he sold and dealed in them, but then developed a "mania" if you will in the form of excessive OCD. In his mind he was saving them, but became unable to see their plight until some sort of "event" took place which revealed to him the true nature of the harm he was doing to the animals.

He felt his only recourse was to kill himself (probably because he thought he was a failure. A failure because he was unable to care for the animals, not that he was able to before) Then, he set the animals "free" into an urban environment that was certainly not their natural habitat.

The failure of governmental officials for not overseeing the keeping of known endangered animals is also at issue here as well. But given the fact that the wife was fully aware of what was going on, she is also suspect as well.

There is no doubt that there were mental issues here.

Personally, prison would have been my first choice for this bastard and I feel sorry for anyone who chooses to take their own life, in this case, I have no problem because he robbed the world of creatures that can not be replaced and further encouraged their endangerment.

[Blue_Tires]

31. It's starting to make more sense now

Maybe he was over-extended financially because he saw the exotics as 'investments' and when the black market dried up (either to low demand or increased competition) they had little monetary value and he couldn't afford to care for them. The stories say he was a guy with expensive tastes and had been in hot water with the IRS before, which screams "quick buck artist".

He clearly did not care for the animals, because even he would have known letting them go in residential areas would be a death sentence (maybe before he died it was just a big middle finger to local government, neighbors, etc.) The only saving grace from this clown is his stunt is going to get about a dozen new laws passed...

[Demstud]

24. Ohio authorities are to blame

Just not necessarily the ones shooting the animals. This guy had been warned many many times about being careless with the animals, charged with abuse, and even had a stint in prison on weapons charges. He should not have been allowed to keep the animals in the first place. Whether it was a lack of laws regarding this kind of thing, or inability of the authorities to enforce existing laws, someone (or someones) in charge failed their job by allowing someone clearly not qualified to keep so many dangerous and exotic animals on his property.