Escaped animals shot in Ohio, USA

gurramok

Ohio police kill 48 exotic animals
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/19/ohio-police-exotic-animals-freed

Part of this that is disturbing is that they shot dead the majority of animals, why couldn't they tranquilise them? And yes it can be done in the dark.

This is a very weak defence

Hanna defended the sheriff against criticism that the animals should have been captured alive.

"What was he to do at night time with tigers, lions and leopards, going out there?" Hanna said. "In the wild, this would be a different situation.

This is a very rural area(think of Leitrim!), me thinks either the sheriff didn't have the resources at hand(perhaps cutbacks) or it was just laziness in that the bullet was a better solution rather than animal welfare.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Even when one 300lb (135kg) animal was shot with a tranquiliser dart when animal authorities arrived, the animal "went crazy," ran off, and had to be shot, Lutz said.

did you even read the article before you rushed to post?

starbelgrade

Dead lions & tigers & bears.

Oh my.

orourkeda

Can we eat any of them?

steddyeddy

The sheriff wouldnt have had that many tranqs in all likelyhood. An investigation is needed but it has to be said some animals react to tranqs better than others and adrenaline can sometimes negate the effects of a tranq.

gurramok

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

did you even read the article before you rushed to post?

Yes, a lazy excuse saying tranquilising one animal would affect many behaving in the same way. Those cops didn't fancy hunting in the dark, lazy way out.

This is gun toting America enforcing the quickest solution at the end of a gun. FFS, animals held in captivity will escape at the earliest opportunity.

foxinsox

steddyeddy wrote: »

If anyone should be shot its whoevers responsible for them escaping.

The way I read it (google news i think) the man/owner let all the animals out and then committed suicide.

48 animals - lions, tigers, bears, wolves etc..

I would imagine it was treated as an emergency situation with all these animals running around and I would imagine that that amount of tranquiliser shots may not have been available at such short notice.

EDIT - ADDED STORY FROM - The Guardian

Police on Wednesday killed 48 wild animals – including 18 tigers and 17 lions – after their owner freed dozens of exotic animals from his Ohio game preserve and then killed himself.

Officers with assault rifles stalked the animals overnight through woods in Muskingum county in rural central Ohio, and were still searching for a wolf and a monkey on Wednesday afternoon. Area residents were told to stay indoors.

"This was a very, very bad situation," County sheriff Matt Lutz told a news conference. "These animals were on the move, and they were showing aggressive behaviour."

Animal bodies were seen scattered near a barn on the game preserve, and they were later buried there. Lutz said that it appeared Muskingum County Animal Farm owner Terry Thompson opened the farm's cages and gates and shot himself.

The preserve also had cheetahs, wolves, giraffes, camels and grizzly bears, among others.

"It's like Noah's ark, like, wrecking right here in Zanesville, Ohio," said Jack Hanna, former director of the Columbus Zoo. "Noah's ark filled with tigers and lions and leopards and a few monkeys and whatever, and it crashes here and all of a sudden they're out there."

Also among the dead were 18 Bengal tigers, two grizzly bears and 17 lions.

Hanna stressed the danger of letting them roam.

"If you had 18 Bengal tigers running around, you folks wouldn't want to see what would happen," Hanna added.

Six surviving animals, including a grizzly bear, were taken to the Columbus Zoo.

Amid the confusion, there were multiple sightings of exotic animals up to about 10 miles (16km) away. "Some sort of cat" was hit and wounded on a local highway, Lutz said.

The sheriff defended the shootings, saying police had just an hour or so before it got dark on Tuesday, and that they were not carrying tranquiliser darts.

Police found several aggressive animals near Thompson's body and shot them, and they saw many other animals standing outside their cages or outside the fencing surrounding the property and began shooting them on sight.

Even when one 300lb (135kg) animal was shot with a tranquiliser dart when animal authorities arrived, the animal "went crazy," ran off, and had to be shot, Lutz said.

Hanna defended the sheriff against criticism that the animals should have been captured alive.

"What was he to do at night time with tigers, lions and leopards, going out there?" Hanna said. "In the wild, this would be a different situation."

Authorities would not say how Thompson killed himself, and no suicide note was found. Lutz said the sheriff's office had received numerous complaints since 2004 about animals at the property. Thompson had gotten out of federal prison just last month after serving a year for possessing unregistered guns.

Lutz told CNN that he had feared finding Thompson dead at his farm from an animal attack.

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

Danielle White, whose father's property abuts the animal preserve, said Thompson had been in trouble because of repeated animal escapes. A few weeks ago she said she had to avoid some camels grazing on the side of a freeway.

"It's always been a fear of mine knowing [Thompson] had all those animals," she said. "I have kids. I've heard a male lion roar all night."

John Ellenberger, another neighbour, speculated that Thompson freed the animals to get back at neighbours and police.

"Nobody much cared for him," Ellenberger said.

Temptamperu

Damn what was the guy thinking... before he blew his brains out.

opinion guy

Well when I saw this story first I thought - holy crap people are gonna get eaten!!!


But then of course I forgot that this occcured in right to bear arms land. It turns out the viscious wild animals were the ones in danger - from the most dangerous animal of them all - fat gun-toting Americans :rolleyes:

NRA must be loving this. For perhaps the first time in years the right to bear arms to defend yourself was actually a valid reason to carry a gun.

starbelgrade

opinion guy wrote: »

NRA must be loving this. For perhaps the first time in years the right to bear arms to defend yourself was actually a valid reason to carry a gun.

Do you know who else has a right to bear arms?

Bears.

Pyr0

opinion guy wrote: »

Well when I saw this story first I thought - holy crap people are gonna get eaten!!!

Added to the fact that a Tranquilizer didn't work on one animal, the police force didn't take any risks any I commend them for it.

Could you imagine the comments in this thread if those animals killed innocent people and the police "didn't use the force necessary" to prevent the deaths?

LighterGuy

I hate all this "oh will someone please think of the animals" crap :mad:

Lions ... tigers ... bears .... wolves.
Dangerous animals roaming about. Would people rather of waited until someone got killed before using deadly force?

Its funny tho, take some who is against this on here. They could say its horrible what the sheriff's department is doing. Killing those "poor animals" but yet, if the same animals were roaming about in their area they'd be crying for the police to put them down any way they can. :rolleyes:

JPA

18 tigers in a zoo in Ohio?

No wonder there's so few in the wild.

gurramok

Yeh Pyr0, do you really believe every word that the police tells you? :rolleyes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15364027

Does it really take a genius to work out how you can get these animals back to the zoo without slaughtering them one by one. 'Of the 48 animals that were shot and killed, there were two wolves, six black bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, and 18 tigers.' No matter how dark it is, you should put death as the last option

What happened was the quickest cost effective solution without thinking of the animals welfare. The cops in this case went OTT.

foxinsox

JPA wrote: »

18 tigers in a zoo in Ohio?

Not anymore...

opinion guy

starbelgrade wrote: »

Do you know who else has a right to bear arms?

Bears.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/jlv/lowres/jlvn653l.jpg

http://www.demopolislive.com/gallery/images/1/medium/1_the_right_to_bear_arms.jpg

Fran1985

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJKHQLM8AbM

Rezident

"Some sort of cat" was hit and wounded on a local highway, Lutz said.

Brilliant, America really can be the most exciting country in the world.

Rezident

Thompson had been in trouble because of repeated animal escapes. A few weeks ago she said she had to avoid some camels grazing on the side of a freeway.

Stop! stop, you're killing me

steddyeddy

Thompson had been in trouble because of repeated animal escapes. A few weeks ago she said she had to avoid some camels grazing on the side of a freeway.

Bigfoot hardly gets a look in anymore

opinion guy

Meanwhile local men have been warned that there are several dangersou cougars on the loose.....

http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/replicate/EXID36112/images/cougars(10).jpg

woodoo

Is there any video of these animals out and about in Ohio?

opinion guy

woodoo wrote: »

Is there any video of these animals out and about in Ohio?

Shocking video of a cougar hunting in its natural environment.....weddings.......viewer discretion advised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3VQXivVlW0

Guy:Incognito

gurramok wrote: »

Yes, a lazy excuse saying tranquilising one animal would affect many behaving in the same way. Those cops didn't fancy hunting in the dark, lazy way out.

This is gun toting America enforcing the quickest solution at the end of a gun. FFS, animals held in captivity will escape at the earliest opportunity.

Is nighttime hunting and live trapping of Lions, tigers and Leopards thought to all police in America as part of training or should they just wing it and hope no police or civilians are killed by the animals while they roam around?

gurramok

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Is nighttime hunting and live trapping of Lions, tigers and Leopards thought to all police in America as part of training or should they just wing it and hope no police or civilians are killed by the animals while they roam around?

Exaggeration. This is rural America here not some densely populated city. Why not hunt the animals in the dark with tranquilisers? Is that too much for a cop to take? Or perhaps he'll miss his wife's dinner at home

Birdnuts

LighterGuy wrote: »

I hate all this "oh will someone please think of the animals" crap :mad:

Lions ... tigers ... bears .... wolves.
Dangerous animals roaming about. Would people rather of waited until someone got killed before using deadly force?

Its funny tho, take some who is against this on here. They could say its horrible what the sheriff's department is doing. Killing those "poor animals" but yet, if the same animals were roaming about in their area they'd be crying for the police to put them down any way they can. :rolleyes:

Do you think these endangered species wanted to be kept in some wacko's back garden thanx to inadequate laws in Ohio?? - they were massacared thanx to the same type of human ignorance and stupidity that is that hallmark of our species. Your contempt should be reserved for the idiots who allowed this situation to develope in the first place:mad:

Guy:Incognito

gurramok wrote: »

Exaggeration. This is rural America here not some densely populated city. Why not hunt the animals in the dark with tranquilisers? Is that too much for a cop to take? Or perhaps he'll miss his wife's dinner at home

Would your opinion be the same if you lived on a farm in rural Ohio with your wife and kids?

Birdnuts

JPA wrote: »

18 tigers in a zoo in Ohio?

No wonder there's so few in the wild.

It wasn't a zoo - it was some fools back garden:rolleyes:

gurramok

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Would your opinion be the same if you lived on a farm in rural Ohio with your wife and kids?

Yes, they would have guns. A simple shot in the air would scare any aggressive animal off. Also they must have mobile phones out there to phone the police

Saila

'Of the 48 animals that were shot and killed, there were two wolves, six black bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, 18 tigers........

and a partridge in pear treeeeee

DjFlin

gurramok wrote: »

Exaggeration. This is rural America here not some densely populated city. Why not hunt the animals in the dark with tranquilisers? Is that too much for a cop to take? Or perhaps he'll miss his wife's dinner at home

Show me the the police officer of a rural town who feels safe in the black of night with a tranquiliser gun, 18 Bengal tigers, two grizzly bears and 17 lions.

It doesn't matter that its a small town, its a town. With people, and a hell of a lot of wild animals.


Also, what police station has enough tranquiliser to take down a zoo on such short notice?