Sheriff’s deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals – including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions – in a big-game hunt across the Ohio countryside Wednesday after the owner of an exotic-animal park threw their cages open and committed suicide in what appeared to be one last act of spite against his neighbors and police.
As homeowners nervously hid indoors, officers equipped with high-powered rifles and shoot-to-kill orders spread out through fields and woods to hunt down about 56 animals that had been set loose from the Muskingum County Animal Farm by its owner, Terry Thompson, before he shot himself to death Tuesday.
After an all-night hunt that extended into Wednesday afternoon, 48 animals had been killed and six captured alive and taken to the Columbus Zoo, authorities said. The only animals believed still on the loose were a wolf and a monkey.
Holy shit. This is so absolutely disgusting. First the animals suffer by being held captive all their lives and being someone’s sick source of entertainment, and now they’re brutally killed because of something that a person did? My intense hatred towards people only seems to amplify every day.
I read this morning they decided to shoot the animals because when they’re tranquilized they find some place safe to sleep and police didn’t want to deal with running around and finding them. Furthermore, some animals can get aggressive after being shot with a tranquilizer, so they didn’t want to deal with that either.
I actually agree with what Glenn Hurowitz wrote:
Police too often respond to one complaint with a hail of bullets - even when it’s native wildlife like black bears, wolves or mountain lions. This is especially true in areas where predators were exterminated decades past, but are now migrating in from other areas. The reality is most citizens want police to protect wildlife - but police too often respond to one complaint - or one informational call - with a paranoid response. They forget that we live in a landscape of wild animals and the fact that we live in a country that still has wild animals is one of the things that makes our country great. Police west of the Mississippi know that it’s cougar country, and it’s not that big a deal if someone spots one (unfortunately, some states still exhibit anti-wolf hatred).
Even when it comes to exotics, the reality is that this kind of slaughter is unnecessary - a little patience and the occasional tranquilizer gun can usually get animals back together. Lethal measures should only be used as a last resort - and especially in cases like this, where police are dealing with highly endangered animals like tigers (3,000 left in the wild) and lions (just 23,000). We need to do everything we can to keep these animals alive and reintroduce them into the wild where possible to bolster wild populations.
Of course, the real problem here is unregulated and often cruel private menageries of the type involved here.P.S. Jack Hanna is a clown and I don’t understand why anyone takes him seriously as an “animal expert.” I don’t know a single conservationist who agrees with him or any of his methods. See my archive for all of my Jack Hanna criticisms.
I read about it this morning and I have to say that it ruined my day. I think it’s fucking bullshit that that wackjob was even able to keep these animals in captivation in the first place. Then the shoot-to-kill orders were completely callous and unnecessary. 48 killed and only 6 captured alive? Really, that’s the best the authorities could do?
With all do respect, fuck you, Muskingum County! Fuck you, humanity.
We have no respect for the other species of this planet and no concern for the diminishing biodiversity we are to blame for.
