OH-Exotic animal farm owner found dead-48 wild animals escape

[peeples]

This whole situation has made me cry.. killing them wasn't right, it's NOT their fault some jack@ss let them loose!!!!

 

[LietKynes]

What a sad loss of precious, beautiful animals !
I'm trying not to be angry with the LE who felt they needed to put them down...I'm not in their shoes. The one person I AM angry with is the now-deceased owner; who from some news stories let them loose before apparently taking his life.
I'll try to find the article.
What a selfish thing for that man to do, if he indeed let them loose.
This reminds me of the fatal mauling in the San Diego zoo ; where some young men (allegedly) had teased a Siberian tiger until she jumped the barricade and killed one of them and injured the other two. Just senseless.
imo.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/us/ohio-animals-on-loose/index.html

"Only two escaped exotic animals still at large in OhioBy Moni Basu, CNN
updated 2:55 PM EST, Wed October 19, 2011"


"Thompson, 62, was found dead and authorities were waiting on the results of an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death, Lutz said. But he said preliminary investigations indicated Thompson pried open cages and left the farm's fences open and then died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

-Partially snipped from CNN.

 

[Nova]

I have been upset, mad and sad since I heard this story today. I've had an email on draft to the sheriff's dept all day asking them if they ever heard of tranquilizer guns or why the zoo wasn't called in last night and if they feel like big bad strong men now that they've shot some precious animals. Those animals are scared and confused. I very highly doubt they would be attacking anyone, I really do. Criticize me and my thoughts all you want, but it's sad and a loss of preciouls wildlife. And if the owner did open all the cages or wildlife protectors, then they should be b-slapped and then hung because it was almost certain that men would have to go gung ho and kill them all. Signed - sad and mad

I think everybody here shares your sorrow over the destruction of these rare animals.

But even Jack Hanna has said the police did what they had to do. This isn't the sort of situation for which the police are trained or equipped. They had less than 2 hours before dark, after which the animals would have had 10 or so hours of darkness to spread out undetected.

ETA one of the links above says the owner let the animals loose before committing suicide. The tiger mauling was at the San Francisco Zoo, not San Diego.

The biggest "villain" here is the State of Ohio, which allows the unregulated private ownership of exotic animals. Oddly, the owner had to be licensed and monitored for his bears, but not for his lions and tigers--because the latter aren't native to Ohio.

 

[AnaTeresa]

I have been upset, mad and sad since I heard this story today. I've had an email on draft to the sheriff's dept all day asking them if they ever heard of tranquilizer guns or why the zoo wasn't called in last night and if they feel like big bad strong men now that they've shot some precious animals. Those animals are scared and confused. I very highly doubt they would be attacking anyone, I really do. Criticize me and my thoughts all you want, but it's sad and a loss of preciouls wildlife. And if the owner did open all the cages or wildlife protectors, then they should be b-slapped and then hung because it was almost certain that men would have to go gung ho and kill them all. Signed - sad and mad

Jack Hanna had said that, given the circumstances with it being dark and the head start the animals had, they couldn't wait for tranquilizers. And, in the dark, tranquilizers may have made it worse.

I hate it, too. But it's not really the sheriff's department at fault with this.

 

[OrdinaryLife]

It goes without saying that the animals let loose are victims but, I cannot, nor will I, judge the decisions that LE and other professionals have shared, regarding killing these animals. Thank goodness all became aware of what this man did before any adult or child were hurt or killed. What he did was out of pure spite for animals and humans alike.

imvho

 

[deelytful1]

I think everybody here shares your sorrow over the destruction of these rare animals.

But even Jack Hanna has said the police did what they had to do. This isn't the sort of situation for which the police are trained or equipped. They had less than 2 hours before dark, after which the animals would have had 10 or so hours of darkness to spread out undetected.

ETA one of the links above says the owner let the animals loose before committing suicide. The tiger mauling was at the San Francisco Zoo, not San Diego.

The biggest "villain" here is the State of Ohio, which allows the unregulated private ownership of exotic animals. Oddly, the owner had to be licensed and monitored for his bears, but not for his lions and tigers--because the latter aren't native to Ohio.

Thanks Nova, I just came on to say basically the same thing.
My heart BREAKS for these poor animals, but if it was a choice between them or an innocent citizen .. sorry. but the choice is obvious.
In addition, I don't understand that if this man was such a lover of exotic animals he could do something like this because he must have obviously known that they would be killed.
Very tragic situation.. But, caging wild animals that should be roaming their own habitat is tragic as well.
That's a WHOLE other thread!

 

[Turtles]

I think everybody here shares your sorrow over the destruction of these rare animals.

But even Jack Hanna has said the police did what they had to do. This isn't the sort of situation for which the police are trained or equipped. They had less than 2 hours before dark, after which the animals would have had 10 or so hours of darkness to spread out undetected.

ETA one of the links above says the owner let the animals loose before committing suicide. The tiger mauling was at the San Francisco Zoo, not San Diego.

The biggest "villain" here is the State of Ohio, which allows the unregulated private ownership of exotic animals. Oddly, the owner had to be licensed and monitored for his bears, but not for his lions and tigers--because the latter aren't native to Ohio.

BBM
I could not agree more! MOO These animals paid the price because of lack of regulations that would stop people from collecting exotic pets. If this man (don't like to speak ill of the dead however it is what it is) loved and cared for those animals he would have never let them go knowing exactly what would happen to them. Not the mindset I think of for a responsible person raising exotic animals. Such a shame for the animals although safety is the biggest concern.

 

[Betty P]

I think everybody here shares your sorrow over the destruction of these rare animals.

But even Jack Hanna has said the police did what they had to do. This isn't the sort of situation for which the police are trained or equipped. They had less than 2 hours before dark, after which the animals would have had 10 or so hours of darkness to spread out undetected.

ETA one of the links above says the owner let the animals loose before committing suicide. The tiger mauling was at the San Francisco Zoo, not San Diego.

The biggest "villain" here is the State of Ohio, which allows the unregulated private ownership of exotic animals. Oddly, the owner had to be licensed and monitored for his bears, but not for his lions and tigers--because the latter aren't native to Ohio.

Agree with your comment NOVA. The person to blame for the deaths of these animals is the owner who turned them loose before committing suicide. Crazy, irresponsible person.

Ohio's Gov. Kasich needs to get his head on straight and reinstate the ban on keeping these kinds of animals in Ohio. The fool actually said he revoked the ban to "protect small businesses".:furious:

 

[SailorMoon]

I think everybody here shares your sorrow over the destruction of these rare animals.

But even Jack Hanna has said the police did what they had to do. This isn't the sort of situation for which the police are trained or equipped. They had less than 2 hours before dark, after which the animals would have had 10 or so hours of darkness to spread out undetected.

ETA one of the links above says the owner let the animals loose before committing suicide. The tiger mauling was at the San Francisco Zoo, not San Diego.

The biggest "villain" here is the State of Ohio, which allows the unregulated private ownership of exotic animals. Oddly, the owner had to be licensed and monitored for his bears, but not for his lions and tigers--because the latter aren't native to Ohio.

I heard Jack Hanna and I'm sure he's right and know that LE "felt" they were doing what they had to do. It's a tragedy and the stubborn person I am thinks they could have done otherwise. However, I wasn't there and calling the shots. And with it getting dark I can understand not wanting to lose track of them.

That's why I type my emails and save them in "drafts" and have never sent one. Yet.....

Why he let the animals loose is beyond me. That's almost a certain death, and in this case, it was. Such beautiful innocent creatures.

 

[mysteriew]

I can't understand what would drive a person to let the animals loose in the first place. He had to have loved them, because they would have taken a lot care and it would have been expensive to feed them. You don't do that unless you feel an affinity for them.

Then to commit suicide out in the open with them roaming I really don't understand. (Shudder what if the gunshot hadn't killed him, and one of the animals was hungry.)

They said his wife was away from the home at the time. I wonder if perhaps they had had an argument where she was upset about the time/expense of caring for all the animals? Could this have been his way of getting back at her?

 

[mikkismom]

...And people think Ohio is boring... Oh, I wish!

The killing of these animals was tragic and, IMHO necessary. Has everybody forgotten about Travis the chimp (?) in NE US? There was a show on recently about a man who had his head bitten by a grizzly! We have had other 'exotic' animals get loose in Ohio. These are HUGE, ferocious animals who have NO FEAR of humans (which is normal for them.)

This time of year, we are keeping an eye out for deer crossing the road. The biggest animal fear I had before yesterday was skunks! (Also - no fear of people.) Can you imagine a midwest rural area, near an interstate highway (I-70) that leads to a huge poplulation center and you have 50+ of these animals loose? This isn't a vast wildlife area, this is TIGERS in the cornfield! Not deer crossing the road but FULL SIZED MALE LIONS!

I commend our LE for how they handled a situation that should have never happened. We will take a wild black bear or two - maybe even some cougars - the native ones avoid us. The rural midwest is NO place for Lions and Tigers and Grizzlies.

JMVHO

Buckeye thankful for not being kitty food today!

 

[Betty P]

More information about the owner. Quite a criminal, actually...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/10/ohio-animals-profile-terry-thompson.html

Locals were well aware of Thompson’s sprawling hillside property near Interstate 70, where drivers could catch a glimpse of camels and llamas roaming “like they were cows and horses,” Wolfe said. That frustrated some residents, particularly because Thompson’s backyard zoo was a few miles from a high school, but they had no way to make him close it down.

In June 2008, federal agents raided Thompson’s property on Kopchak Road, seizing more than 100 weapons. In April 2010, Thompson pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Columbus to two federal charges, possession of a machine gun and possession of short firearms without serial numbers, and was sent to prison.

All of these guns and dangerous exotic animals just 2 miles from a high school? He sounds crazy.

 

[Nova]

Thanks Nova, I just came on to say basically the same thing.
My heart BREAKS for these poor animals, but if it was a choice between them or an innocent citizen .. sorry. but the choice is obvious.
In addition, I don't understand that if this man was such a lover of exotic animals he could do something like this because he must have obviously known that they would be killed.
Very tragic situation.. But, caging wild animals that should be roaming their own habitat is tragic as well.
That's a WHOLE other thread!

I agree and I don't mean to hijack this one. But I want to say that I love the big cats--in their natural habitats in the Americas, Africa and Asia. I have zero desire to own one.

 

[Nova]

...He sounds crazy.

To me, too.

 

[LunaticFringe]

They were just showing all of the dead tigers on abc news.Just damn.

 

[davehead21]

They were just showing all of the dead tigers on abc news.Just damn.

I saw that, too-- what a crazy sight. Very, very sad.

What on earth would make this guy release all of these animals before killing himself?! I really cannot wrap my brain around that. I see absolutely no purpose to it unless he just wanted to be cruel to the animals and terrorize people. Ugh.

 

[Peazzzer]

My daughter just called me a little bit ago about this. It is heart wrentching to think of coming upon these animals at near dark and making the decision to shoot to kill them. The animals were not at fault, the owner was, and sadly he was not in his right mind to let them go and take his own life. Dark is what took these animals, they cant shoot tranquilizers at night, too risky for peeps n the animals. Jack Hanna said it best that it was like Noahs ark there. How awful. Tragic. Senseless.

 

[nerosleuth]

I live one hour away from where all this happened. I had worried relatives from out of state calling me today because they saw the news on their tv about what happened here in Ohio.

At this time of the year, it gets dark in Ohio at 6:45 p.m. in the evening. LE only had about 75 minutes of daylight left when all of this occurred yesterday evening.

The LE in Muskingum County did the right thing under this unfortunate situation.

I don't care what these exotic wildlife animal owners say. The exotic wildlife animals are not household pets! They don't belong in a home or on a rural farm. They belong out in their proper natural habitat. These wild animals are fearless of humans, and they will attack humans if given the chance to do so.

 

[MissJames]

I have been upset, mad and sad since I heard this story today. I've had an email on draft to the sheriff's dept all day asking them if they ever heard of tranquilizer guns or why the zoo wasn't called in last night and if they feel like big bad strong men now that they've shot some precious animals. Those animals are scared and confused. I very highly doubt they would be attacking anyone, I really do. Criticize me and my thoughts all you want, but it's sad and a loss of preciouls wildlife. And if the owner did open all the cages or wildlife protectors, then they should be b-slapped and then hung because it was almost certain that men would have to go gung ho and kill them all. Signed - sad and mad

It is a tragedy and I wish they could have found another way,but when animals are scared and confused ,that's when they are the most likely to attack.

It wasn't the animals fault,but they always seem to pay the price .

 

[MissJames]

I live one hour away from where all this happened. I had worried relatives from out of state calling me today because they saw the news on their tv about what happened here in Ohio.

At this time of the year, it gets dark in Ohio at 6:45 p.m. in the evening. LE only had about 75 minutes of daylight left when all of this occurred yesterday evening.

The LE in Muskingum County did the right thing under this unfortunate situation.

I don't care what these exotic wildlife animal owners say. The exotic wildlife animals are not household pets! They don't belong in a home or on a rural farm. They belong out in their proper natural habitat. These wild animals are fearless of humans, and they will attack humans if given the chance to do so.

At 50 I decided I wanted to get some farm animals .It was a dream since I was a kid. I started with a few chicks and fell in love,but realized buying them from a large hatchery means I've contributed to suffering of animals.
Now we let our hens keep nests and hatch their chicks ,if they get broody.They roam in the pasture,our front and back yard. At night after they roost we shut the doors to their dual sided runs. We must have the only chicken coop with a heater installed on one side (for chicks)
Then we got some dairy goats. But guess what.You're supposed to take the babies away from the mother and bottle feed them if you are going to milk them.We just can't do that. So I have 11 pet goats ,now. We love them.

I see calves for sale ,just days old ,stuck in a 4x4 ft box. That's veal.I want to rescue them all ,but feed and hay gets expensive.

There is nothing like an animal mother. They are intense and need their babies. One of our goats had stillborn twins .They were backwards,which can be okay,but these 2 had died before birth. I was devastated and tried to get them breathing,but it was nothing compared to what the momma went through. She was despondent for weeks. I can't imagine intentionally taking a baby away from it's mother.

The wild animals that were killed last night is a tragedy,but there are many more tragedies out there and we may be part of the problem.
It's hard to think about what really happens to our food before it's wrapped in saran wrap in the grocery store.
When friends order lamb at a restaurant ,I pull up my pictures of Isaboo and Grace on my cell phone.