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I heard bits and pieces of this throughout the day, but it was not until I sat down to watch Rachel that I heard the entire unbelievable story in its entirety.I was surprised at my outrage and visceral response to the story.
I had always considered Jack Hanna to be a goofy animal handler who occasionally showed up on the Tonight Show, but his raw emotional response to this tragedy, really touched my heart and gave me new respect for a man who clearly has a deep and abiding love for our fellow creatures.
As I listened to his description, it sounded for all of the world like the plot to a low budget horror movie. Sadly this is one that was all too real, and one that led to a completely unnecessary loss of life.
Jack Hanna is revered in Ohio. He used to carry around madagascar hissing cockroaches in his shirt pocket. While he was talking to you, he'd completely engage you, then the next thing you'd know, he'd put one of these 3 inch long roaches on your shirt. Jack loves doing this to the ladies.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to throw up.
ReplyDeleteSo horrifying. I console myself in the knowledge that the best these animals could have hoped for is to live out the rest of their lives in a zoo. Perhaps they might have been able to procreate and their offspring released into the wild, but that seems unlikely. What a mess though, and such a travesty that anyone, least of all someone so unbalanced, should be allowed to hold such creatures in captivity.
ReplyDeleteI was also heartbroken when I saw the report. I didn't like the way the cops whooped and hollered when they got the "shoot to kill" order for anything that moved beyond the gates. It seemed that they were far to enthusiastic to use their guns.
ReplyDeleteI understand why the big cats had to be put down. I also understand that cops don't normally carry tranquilizers. Perhaps this would have been a good time to use tasers???? and then trank the animals to move them???
What I don't understand is why kill the black bears? or the wolves? They would have found their way to a wooded area and acclimated fairly quickly.
I'm glad that the first reports that giraffes were killed were wrong.
I'm glad that Jack Hanna took the remaining 6 animals to be placed in zoos.
I had to be heartbreaking for him to see those glorious animals be brutally murdered.
The animals were buried at the farm.
Sadly Ohio has the least restrictive laws regarding exotic animals. Terry Thompson was a convicted felon that was just released from jail 3 weeks ago. He spent the last year in jail for weapons offenses. Ohio has changed the law for people who want to purchase animals, but previous owners were grandfathered in, so the law did not apply to Thompson.
I also read that Mr. Thompson had 21 days to get rid of all the animals or pay $1000's per day per animal in fines. In his head, he probably felt he had no alternative but to commit suicide (if that is, in fact, what happened).
A similar case (Muzzolo) took place months before - owner dead, animals released. I hope this is not the actions of an animal activist group.
I too, feel for the senseless loss of life of these animals. But unfortunately, the lives of exotics by private owners rarely ends well for these wild creatures. Unfortunately many states allow the ownership but lack a "control" organization to make sure they are kept as they should be housed and fed.
ReplyDeleteThis owner was clearly batshit
crazy to let them all go before he committed suicide and most likely wished those animals to do harm. The police were in a position to do what they had to do and I am sure they took no joy in this task.
Many on other sites have said"why not tranquilize them?" But police forces do not have tranquilizer guns and I doubt there would have been enough in the whole state to safely control the situation. And I doubt there would have been enough trained people to handle the animals once tranquilized (they are still dangerous). Many privately kept exotics are underfed, under stimulated, and housed in inadequit housing and once loose are extremely dangerous.
I have been a helper in removing dogs, cats,horses, and other livestock from poor owners and I do understand the organization and people needed to clear out and rescue that many animals that are basic domesticated animals.
One way we can ALL help prevent this scenerio from happening again is to fight to get the laws of ownership changed in our individual states ( and it is a HUGE uphill battle here in Texas).
In fact rancher down the road from me owns exotic cats and as much as I would dread it, the safety of MY family,pets, and livestock will come first if there is ever a case of one or more on the loose. It is a tragedy waiting to happen.
As for Jack Hanna, he comes off a little goofy :) but he is knowledgable and has been a great help in interesting generations about exotics and the need for better zoos. The one thing I have heard Mr Hanna say again and again over the years is that EXOTICS do not make good pets and to NOT get them for private ownership.
little Rabbit
More importantly it is John Kasich (former Bill O'Reilly sub), the Gov. of Ohio who felt the exotic animals ban would hinder 'businesses'. These Republicans need to realize that life is not a business, we need to live responsibly.
ReplyDeleteIt is so very sad and hard to comprehend. I was a little worried that Rachel had some of her facts wrong and that is not like her and her staff at all. That man was a selfish bastard. There were so many more ways to have dealt with his problem. 18 Tigers, what a horrible, senseless, loss.
ReplyDeleteI should also have added to my previous post that.....
ReplyDeleteI do know the personal tragedy of what a family can go through.
I had a cousin that owned a couple of tigers privately, it did not end well. Her young son got off the school bus one day and found his mother being eaten by the large cats. Her son has never recovered fully and we lost a family member. Thank goodness that they were NOT running free and endangering others. If they had gotten through the second fence, that incident could have been much worse.
Little Rabbit
I ended up confused as to the politics. Rachel indicated Kasich had removed regulations. Hanna acted like Kasich was in agreement with them and the regs just hadn't happened yet.
ReplyDeleteRachel's report actually made me feel better as I had only heard snippets during the day (and lots of opinions!). Those officers had no choice and I highly doubt it was "fun" for them. It's just a terribly sad story and I really feel for all those involved, including the innocent animals.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I live in Dayton. I told her of this and she thought it was terrible. She is also Chinese and usually accepting of tragedies.(China, the sea of bitter tears)
ReplyDeleteWorse happens on a daily basis but this is still an awful thing.
Had this owner really loved the animals, he would not have released them, knowing what could happen. Owning exotic animals should be stopped. They showed auctions where the animals are sold. Disgusting. No better than puppy mills.
ReplyDeleteAnother black eye for Ohio.
ReplyDeleteOur last governor, Ted Strickland put forth an executive order to put in place controls for the keeping of exotic animals in Ohio.
ReplyDeleteWell, thanks to our current tea bagging governor, Kasich, they just let the order expire. Typical. They are whining now how the order was unenforceable--but they made ZERO attempt to enforce it or build on it.
Of course, the ultimate responsibility lies with Thompson who was an animal hoarder. This is just a tragedy all around. The poor animals, the dead keeper and the freaked out town.
I can't watch that. I heard about this yesterday. The only bright spot is that I heard today that the animals who were not killed are doing well.
ReplyDeletei just don't believe that the man let those critters go. sounds like a mystery no one wants to solve.
ReplyDelete18 Bengal tigers killed, when there's less than 2,000 left in the whole world. How did this nutjob get 18 Bengal tigers? This is so beyond outrageous that it sickens. Why? Why? Why?
ReplyDeleteA house was under construction in a housing development near me and when the workers came in to work in the morning they found a mountain lion in the house under construction. They called the police and when they arrived they shot it..it would have taken to long for the Fish and Game people to arrive and it would take too long for the tranquilizer to work and the mountain lion could escape from the house and the kids in the neighborhood were on their way to school. People were upset the animal was killed but if they did not shoot the animal and it got away and killed or mauled a child then they would be screaming..why didn't the police kill it when they had the chance..
ReplyDeleteA report on abc's site said that at least one veterinarian got a tranquilizer dart into one of the lions, but it charged her and then attempted to flee, so tragically it had to be killed. This is the kind of situation no municipality -- small town, urban -- could be prepared for, but "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." It's so ironic that minimal regulations are considered JOB-KILLING in Teabagland, and that government has to be "drowned in the bathtub," but what would have happened if all those police and animal control officers had been laid off? Ohio would have experienced a beneficial boom in the funeral industry? Or small towns could earn huntin' fees off General Zaroff types? The mind boggles.
ReplyDeleteHey - Blame it on our new Republican Governor John Kasich, who in addition to wanting to destroy collecting bargaining rights for police, firemen, teachers and other public employees, refused to extend emergency legislation that was specifically designed to put the owner of this wildlife refuge out of business.
ReplyDeleteIf Kasich had extended the emergency legislation put in place by former Democratic governor Ted Strickland, that was specifically designed to put Terry Thompson out of business, Mr. Thompson never would hsve been able to resume control of the wildlife refuge when he was recently released from prison.
Of course, Gov Kasich never met a business or business owner he didn't like, and like most Republicans is opposed to all regulations, so lets put a lot of the responibility for what happened Tuesday night and Wednesday right where it belongs - on Ohio Governor John Kasic.
ohiomom
Animal rights avocates are now saying that shooting the animals was the correct action to take, and I agree with them. Their is no way the Sheriff or the Columbus Zoo had the resources to capture all of the animals on the loose. These are very dangerous animals who could have very easily killed someone. They were not afraid of people and if someone would have panic after coming across one of the animals, it would have end up being fatal. Running away from a dangerous animal is the natural response, but it also triggers the animal's instinct to chase and kill. They had to remedy the situation as fast as they could and killing the animals was their only option they had. It's fortunate they were able to capture some, but the nature of the situation gave them no other option to shoot most. Blame the owner for releasing the animals, not the Sheriff.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm gritting my teeth about regarding this horrible situation is the overall "business" of exotic and wild animal poaching and selling for profit allowed by so many governments, and the lax laws allowing them to be exported.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention how exotic animals get INTO this country -- I'm not knowledgeable enough about federal laws regulating import of exotic animals, but I know cat fanciers and breeders import Serval exotic cats and other wild cats to breed with domestic cats to produce Savannah cats, Bengal cats, etc.
You'd think federal laws would supersede lax state laws like the current situation in Kasich's Ohio, to regulate acquisition of wild animals -- then further, REQUIRE states that allow that to regulate wild animal custody and care.
For the libertarians among us that's too Big Brother, I guess, but then we have the laws like life-begins-at-conception, and evangelical fanatic woe betide a pregnant woman if Mother Nature flushes a damaged fetus.
Grrrr.
I also heard reports that the wife was planning to leave him. Part of the reason he let the animals go may have been to prevent her from having any of them in a divorce settlement.
ReplyDeleteJack Hanna said that the wife was angry about them killing her "family".
I think the guy wanted the animals to attack people and cause a lot of terror by letting them go.
My Aunt & Uncle in Ohio know Jack Hanna. I have always loved him...but it is kind of nice to have them confirm that he's just a wonderful guy.
ReplyDeleteSad, sad story...10% of the world's Bengal tigers killed in one night...in Zanesville, Ohio!! nuts.
We do truly live in upside-down land.
Come on guys, stop dissing our new governor of OH! Actually I can't stand the guy and I have NO idea who in the hell voted him in.
ReplyDeleteFunniest thing - on the way to work one day the radio announcers were having people call in with who they would fire (ala D Trump). Our governor came in first, Lebron, and Palin (in that order).
This event was absolutely tragic on so many levels.
This tragedy did NOT have to happen - steps should have been taken well before this - the owner was incompetent and unable to care for those animals - and a felon to boot. ALL of those animals could have been removed before this happened. Laws need to be passed NOW - both for the animals sake and citizens. NO exotics and no grandfathering!
ReplyDeleteYes I don't understand why at least some couldn't have been tranqued and moved to reserves...even if it meant pulling a rabbit out of their arses to quickly get cages & transport together.
ReplyDelete~Canuck~
Ohiomom...exactly. Just another "job killing" regulation that Republicans refuse to enact. Very, very sad, but it appears Ohio has allowed exotic animal auctions and very loose regulations for keeping them in suburban areas for quite a while now.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I can't watch that. Some people are too dense to realize they should not be keeping or even feeding random wild animals in their backyards. One of my neighbors used to feed a family of foxes on his deck because he thought it was sweet for his invalid wife to see them from her window. These foxes can be dangerous to kids playing in our common areas, small pets, and could carry rabies, etc. They got so brazen they wouldn't run from humans anymore, and I got to the point where I was taking my kids' airsoft guns with me when I walked my dogs. The dogs would become uncontrollable if they saw them on the walking paths.
Mr. Hanna just lost some credibility here. While he's an expert in animal husbandry, he's also shilling for the current administration in Ohio. I expected better from him.
ReplyDeleteSome level of responsibility needs to be taken for this outrageous loss of life.
Canuck,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately they had to shoot many of them the night he left them out so it was dark.
We have a real problem with many people keeping exotic/wild animals. I am not sure that if they outlawed it at this very moment & didn't grandfather in some people who own them (say rescue places) then what would we do with them?
I am afraid you would have to kill all of them........I don't know which is worse? Maybe regulate the grandfathered in ones better?
Welcome to John Kasich's Ohio. Where innocent exotic endangered animals are slaughtered by the dozens and the cops get off on it. The animals did NOT have to be murdered in this way. The cops were simply too lazy and cowardly to capture them humanely and they love killing. They'd rather put a bullet in the head of a bengal tiger than do the work it takes to capture him. Cops = lazy cowards. This is not surprising.
ReplyDeleteI blame the owner and also the powers that be who let someone have all of these exotic animals for their own private little zoo! It is like the lady who's chimpanzee ripped her face off. These are WILD animals. they belong in zoo's or in the wild, Not in or at private homes. Where did he get all of these animals and how did he pay for them and pay to keep and feed them, can't be cheap to buy and feed them...Don't blame the police for keeping the PUBLIC safe, that is there job.
ReplyDeleteAnd a big reason this happened is teh lack of government control of "exotic animal parks" like this in Ohio. decent laws would have given the state a tool to make sure this didn't happen.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dis Gusted - are you nuts? Animals that have been domesticated wouldn't have the instintt or the ability to make it in the woods,even if they could negotiate their way to those woods.
Your ancestors "made it in the woods" - care to try that now?
Not to mention, it's fall time - these animals would have had no time to store fat and find hibernation caves.
Private citizens should not be allowed to own or breed dangerous exotic animals. Period.
ReplyDeleteIt is not about their RIGHT to do so, but their RESPONSIBILITY to the animals and to people in their surrounding areas. The majority of those who choose to keep such animals in such large numbers are unbalanced.
We have an incident such as this waiting to happen here in AK:
http://www.wolfcountryak.0catch.com/
Over 20 years, and the State of AK has done nothing about it.
I was so sickened by this that I could not visit any more news sites yesterday. I just had to turn my computer off (I don't have television).
ReplyDeleteThere is an excellent documentary called The Elephant in the Living Room that sadly predicts this horrible tragedy. I was lucky enough to see it when it played at the Goldtown Nickelodeon in Juneau earlier this year.
This is just tragic. The moron did everyone a favor by killing himself, but he left those beautiful animals to fend for themselves in a world for which they were not prepared. What a complete waste.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteYes I don't understand why at least some couldn't have been tranqued and moved to reserves...even if it meant pulling a rabbit out of their arses to quickly get cages & transport together.
~Canuck~
----------------------------------
What animal sanctuaries? Most are overflowing. The cost of keeping large exotics is huge. While many species are losing population in the wild, zoos are overflowing with large cats, wolves, and bears (they all breed well in captivity.
I currently am fostering 12 horses and have 15 (adopted)others that will live out their lives on my ranch. Even with the cost of feeding horses is much less, the cost is a huge burden. In fact, in recent months I have had to turn down many in need. Between the costs, labor, vet bills,and drought, we are stretched just like every animal sanctuary. Easy to say, much harder to do, to just capture and ship them off for lifetime care. Do you have an extra animal preserve available? Will you foot the costs?
18 endangered Bengal tigers killed. Its a tragedy for humanity.
ReplyDeleteThe police did what they had to do to protect people. These animals were loose, it was an hour before dark. Even if they had waited for tranquilizers, they would have lost the animals in the dark after they were shot with the tranqs. Then there would have been animals coming out of anesthetics in a strange environment with no one to feed them. They would have been acting out of fear and anxiety and some people would have paid the price with their lives.
ReplyDeleteThis is on the head of the man who was entrusted with their care. He could have called someone to care for them when he was gone, but instead he signed their death warrant by releasing them.
Sorry. I'm not losing any sleep over the deaths of these animals. What other recourse did the police have? They didn't carry tranquilizer guns in their cars. Americans love animals more than people; that's always been the case. If anything will get people to finally turn against Kasich, it's this sad story.
ReplyDeleteApparently, in the U.S. any fool can own an exotic animal but you have to pass a drug test to qualify for welfare.
well, I don't know how I feel...A whole lot worse horrors are happening in the livestock industries all the time..I would think an animal out of his own territory would be unlikely to attack..but apparently they would.... I guess, no use pointing blame. and the idea we can somehow prevent terrible things from happening is just plain silly..Too BAD.!
ReplyDeleteGuys, it goes beyond Kasich on this one. It is a symptom of our failings towards our veterans. Mr. Thompson was a Vietnam vet and had suffered for years with the resulting mental health issues. In his mind, the animals were the only living creatures he could count on. Our country failed Mr. Thompson, our state failed him and the animals. This is what you call an EPIC FAIL.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched this video yet but I did see Jack Hanna on the news last night and the question of using tranquilizers was posed to him. There were a number of factors that made it impossible.
ReplyDeleteMost law enforcement agencies do not have the amount of equipment necessary to handle that many animals at once or the people trained to do so. The tranquilizers must hit the animal in specific locations for the plunger to work properly and deliver the correct dosage of liquid (which is different for each animal). If it hits bone it may not work at all, and the animal may still be awake when approached by officers who are not trained to deal with wild animals in the first place and can't predict their behavior. There is also a period of time before the tranquilizers work and animals tend to flee and/or hide during that period, increasing the possibility that they may be lost or come into contact with the public. If the animals is only partially tranquilized, they become even more aggressive and dangerous and can attack anyone nearby. They were also under the extreme pressure of rapidly approaching darkness, when tracking the animals would become impossible.
As devastated as Hanna was at the tragedy, he also agreed that the only choice the police had was to use deadly force in order to protect themslves and the public. I suppose if there were only one or two animals loose, they may have been able to trap them, but 4 dozen animals loose in one town was a danger no one could prepare for.
There is a grade school just down the road from this place. Seems that there are strict rules that you can't sell beer/wine within quite a distance from a school, but okay to have dangerous animals so close?
ReplyDeleteAt first I was upset when I heard they were shooting the animals. But after reading and considering, I can't see that they had any other option. As another poster stated, they did have a vet who attempted to tranquilize, and it proved to be beyond her abilities. Not many people are able to do that correctly..especially when the animals are running free.
I want to know how a man with his background was allowed to keep so many dangerous animals. Seems they should have be removed at the time he was in prison. I can't imagine how he was able to pay for the feed, vet, etc. for so many animals.
To the person who thought the wolves and bears would just naturally go back to the wild. What do you think they would do for food? Are you willing to sacrifice you own pets..or maybe even children to them? They are NOT pets..there is no place in Ohio where they could live out their lives without impacting man. Don't let the Disney movies of your childhood distort the truth.
I think many of you are giving the sheriff, who is not the villain in this story, an unfair rap. He did what he has sworn to do..he protected the families in his county to the best of his ability. I don't think it is fair to paint him and his deputies as though they enjoyed this. Again, if it was your family in danger, what would you do?
I cannot watch the videos about this travesty and I haven't read all the posts, but am wondering why they couldn't have shot the animals with anesthetizing darts? Was it because these back woods police types just thought they were on a jungle safari and began shooting for the sport of it?
ReplyDeleteThis is just tragic on so many levels. I love Jack Hannah, but his love of animals was trumped by his being affilliated with the Columbus Zoo, which gets funding and support from the man he wasn't willing to blame and other big companies that sponsor keeping animals in captivity for human entertainment and tourist dollars.
ReplyDeleteThis is a prime example of an area where some Government Regulation would be a good thing.
Rachael may have got a few facts wrong, but considering how urgent the crisis was and how information was coming in dribs and drabs, she did a pretty fair job of reporting on what little info was out there.
Asa lifelong animal lover, I could not bear to watch much of this story. So tragic when so many of these creatues are endangered, especially the tigers. Absolutley wretched. No private citizens should be allowed to have wild animals unless they are licensed and are only trying to help preserve the species.
ReplyDeleteThe call to kill those animals was absolutely necessary. Think about it. There were no "woods" in central Ohio that could sustain even a few of them. After being kept in captivity and released in unfamiliar areas, they absolutely would have attacked anything. After missing a few meals, their targets would likely be small domestic animals and children. If these were captive bred, they would have likely just starved not able to find and capture prey effectively. All of them would have died in very sad ways... such as in traffic like two already had. I'm impressed that they captured 6 live, but what would you do with 56 tranquilized predators in the middle of Ohio in the middle of the night? Each would need individual caging in structures far more robust than what could possibly be available. If they are not properly contained, it would be a deadly situation for the handlers and the animals. Also, to suggest no animals be confined in captivity suggests the end of education and research programs that are essential in fighting extinction. Zoos are where most of us fall in love with these animals, and then go on to act on that love by fighting to maintain habitat for them in the wild. Zoos are where breeding programs supplement reintroduction programs and were knowledge is gained that is not possible in the field. If this really disgusts you, please support policies that prevent exotic animal trade. But please don't condemn zoos that work hard on their displays to meet the needs of, and engage animals. And, please learn about the complex ecosystems needed to support even the wolf and bears. How 56 exotics ended up in the possession of this man in Ohio is the problem.
ReplyDeleteMass murder of innocent animals. This is just a travesty. They need to held accountable. Just a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteAre we really sure the owner opened all the cages?
ReplyDeleteWhere else would these animals gone? They needed homes and he took them in. Many were very tame having been owned by people who couldn't care for them. By all accounts, he loved them and I don't think he let them out. What a senseless loss of God's creatures.
ReplyDelete