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

[mysteriew]

I love watching the lions and tigers stalking and hunting.... on TV. I love watching the bear cubs play.... on TV. But not in my neighborhood. I hate that so many animals were killed. It was a waste of beautiful animals. But I support LE and their actions.

Years ago when my DD and stepson was young, we stopped at a local store with a teepee in the front. Thought it would be cute to show the kids. The owner told us there was a mini zoo around back. You could go through for a donation, so we took the kids. They had tigers and I think either a lion or a mountain lion, something like that. We got to look at them pretty close up and it was pretty cool. They seemed calm and well fed. They had what appeared to be a strong, well maintained enclosure. It was pretty fun.

But driving away I felt uneasy. This little mini zoo was two roads away from my home. If just one of those animals broke loose, they could be at my home in a very short time, even before a warning could have gone out.

I had young kids, and a beloved outside dog. Can you imagine the terror I would have felt if just one animal ever got loose?

The ones in my neighborhood are gone now. And they never did get out. I really don't know where they went to be honest. But I was relieved when they disappeared. I felt safer.

 

[jjenny]

...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!

Or the zoo tiger (Tatiana) that escaped from her enclosure and killed that teenager? It's awful to kill of these animals but most of those were dangerous animals clearly capable of killing and eating someone.

 

[Steely Dan]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/us/exotic-animal-owner/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Ohio animal owner supplied cub for Heidi Klum
By Wayne Drash, CNN
updated 10:18 AM EST, Thu October 20, 2011

(CNN) -- Terry Thompson, the Ohio man who authorities say set his exotic animals free just before killing himself, once supplied a lion cub for a photo shoot with supermodel Heidi Klum.

"I wrote a letter to Heidi Klum's people," said Larry Hostetler, the executive director of the Animal Shelter Society of Muskingum County. "I strongly voiced my opinion that if they're going to hire animals for entertainment, they might want to check handlers' backgrounds -- that Terry Thompson had been convicted of animal cruelty.

"Of course, I never heard anything back."

Thompson and his wild animal farm had long been on authorities' radar. Thompson had been kicked out of the local pet fair for bringing exotic animals that snarled at children. He had been convicted in November 2005 of animal cruelty, allowing an animal to roam freely and rendering animal waste without a license.
Police defend killing exotic animals
Tiger expert: Animal owner went too far
Jack Hanna: 'I'll never forget this'
Why animals were shot vs. tranquilized

He had even threatened to let all his animals go when investigators visited after repeated calls of animal abuse or neglect....

 

[Steely Dan]

Jack Hanna is on David Letterman tomorrow night but it's a repeat, I'm pretty sure, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that Letterman has Jack Hanna on sometime next week to discuss this case.

 

[LinasK]

Or the zoo tiger (Tatiana) that escaped from her enclosure and killed that teenager? It's awful to kill of these animals but most of those were dangerous animals clearly capable of killing and eating someone.

The difference is that Tatiana was in a zoo and she was taunted by the companions of the guy that got killed, and I don't think he was a teenager, at best he was 19, but IIRC he was older than that... Also the zoo was negligent in that her fencing for her enclosure was way too short, they've since remedied that problem, but in both cases, rare tigers had to die unnecessarily,:twocents:.

 

[Melanie]

I really had no idea that folks could have such precious animals in their backyard in Ohio. My SIL is a volunteer at Boskoppie, a private game reserve, in South Africa. She travels from the UK to this location every year to help raise the animals, and the work involved is so delicate. My SIL has the biggest heart (works for free), and even she has had her ear torn away by one of these critters.

Note that in Africa, these reserves are quite necessary. Animals are killed daily for food and trade and need protecting. Unlike...perhaps...Ohio. I'm still in shock that so many animals were killed in what appears to be an illegal situation for any highly occupied area. I hope all wild animals in Ohio (and elsewhere) are moved to more habitable areas. Just hearing about what my SIL does, there's really no excuse for lions, tigers, or bears to be housed in what is clearly animal abuse. I don't understand why it was EVER allowed.

Here is the site where SIL works:

http://www.boskoppie.co.za/

Mel

 

[ChasingMoxie]

It upsets me to no end that people are allowed to keep wild animals contained like this in the first place. It shouldn't be legal for anyone to have these animals, whether as a commercial business or as personal pets. Let the sanctuaries take care of the relatively few necessary corner-cases, and criminalize their possession.

It makes me sick to my stomach when I see some halfwit on TV talking about how he keeps tigers "because I love them so much!" Please. Love is putting their instincts and need for a natural habitat above your own selfish desire to own one. Disgusting.

 

[mymeow]

I truly believe this man was thinking entirely about what damage and devastation his animals could bring (not to mention a chuckle of imagining the Sheriff's deputies trying to wrangle some of them). I cannot help think what a miracle it is that there was no loss of human life, nor injuries, given the nature of the animals released. So tragic they had to be killed

 

[Jacie Estes]

It was upsetting to me to see the photos of multiple dead animals lying on the ground. I guess the LE didn't have the manpower to tranquilize them and so killed them. The onus here is on the man who 'owned' them. It is past time for Ohio to tighten the rules on the ownership of exotic animals.

As one who believes that all livng things are sacred, it does hurt me to see so many animals die that way.

 

[annmarie62]

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 for your insightful post; this is such a tragedy, and the police are not to blame- the psycho owner is... if he cared "so much" about these animals, then why did he send most of them to their deaths?? This scenario should never have been able to materialize in the first place. I am BEYOND sick of hearing/reading about these whackos being legally able to have their own private "zoos" in their backyards- the laws need to be changed, NOW!! NO ONE needs to be able to legally own a tiger, for example, in his/her backyard, what a disgusting ego trip, and how sad and tragic for these wild animals who should be living in their native habitats!!

 

[missy_g]

I want to say that this is my opinion. I am no way defending this guy but I might not be agreeing with that everyone has to say.


First off, there are people who are qualified to handle these types of animals. They have licenses and permits to own these animals. They study them and care for them in the best ways possible whether it be in a Zoo situation or a private refuge.

Secondly, where do you draw the line? What do you consider exotic? I owned pet rats. When they had to go to the vet, I had to go to an "exotic" vet. Do you consider rats (what most people consider "vermin") exotic? What about parrots? Or certain kinds of reptiles? There are many that aren't native to this country but yet people still have them. What about certain kinds of bugs or PLANTS. People dump their non native plants into rivers and streams and those plants flourish while killing off the local plant life in the process.

Like I said I am not standing up for this guy but to say that him keeping these animals was WRONG is a huge statement at this point. There are a lot of stories saying he abused the animals and whatnot, but I have heard other stories saying he took care of his animals. Yes he might have been "psycho" towards the end and YES what he did was wrong but in the long run, you can blame your local law makers. Ohio is VERY lax when it comes to animal laws. He could own these animals LEGALLY with no schooling and easy to obtain permits.

When it comes down to it, look into the local laws of animals and see how they turn out. The most restricted animal I have EVER seen is the hawk. They aren't smuggled into the country (as far as I know) and you WONT find them on the black market or at your local flea market. Did you know you can go to a swap meet and take home a tiger? YES it happens.

Did you know that there are over 3.2 MILLION big cats in the USA in private ownership? Someone going crazy and releasing animals can happen anywhere. I don't want to say these animals were domesticated but in a sense they were. When they were in their enclosures they were stress free. They got fed and had their playtimes. This guy didn't keep them in a dog house. RELEASING the animals stressed them out. They were in unknown territories and their instincts kicked in. They were STRESSED out.

Unfortunately a lot of RARE tigers lost their lives the other night and that is totally unfortunate BUT it can be very dangerous to try to tranquilize animals when it's dark outside. Some animals don't even take to the tranqs and it makes them even more aggressive.






I heard on the news that the guy did in fact kill himself and that the wife wants the animals that they caught alive. All the wounds on the guy (except for the gunshot) happened after he died according to autopsy.

 

[Quiche]

This is a good article about the guy... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...mals_n_1023710.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

 

[keeponsearching]

Crazy man. I mourn over those animals not being able to have life, a real one. So sad. I am grateful that no one got hurt.

 

[Quiche]

Here's a follow up article-- that night sounds like a harrowing experience for both man and beast.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...ties_n_1076476.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

 

[peeples]

"auxiliary deputy who was trying to close the cage doors, but did not see a hole had been cut in the cage"

Sooo the deputy tried to not shoot the animals... I hadn't read this before.. it changes my thoughts a little bit.... about THIS deputy anyway...

 

[Cazzie]

This is so sad!

I have read of people who kill their animals before they commit suicide. I've also read of people who don't stop when police chase them, trying to force "suicide by cop".

This story seems like a combination of those..."murder by cop" for the animals, suicide for him. He must have been very sick and tormented.

I've had to hold off posting on this becuz when I first heard about it, I didn't even want to read the news stories. I went to one news site and saw a photo of one dead animal and that was too much.

Rest In Peace, TT.

All those exquisitely beautiful animals who did nothing wrong :rose: :heart: