Lions, Tigers, Bears on the Loose in Ohio

Really? Wild, vicious animals get loose within 30 miles of several colleges and large towns/cities and you’re upset that they might have killed the animals? Do you not realize that these animals will most likely kill all the people they come across? A cheetah will not be scared of a person, nor could the person get away. There are 20+ animals still loose, I think you should be more worried about the number of people that could be killed instead of the animals.

Since all the pens were open at once it sounds like foul play was involved. If the animals got to the owner it may be hard to tell if one of them killed him or if he was killed by a deranged person who set the animals free. PETA? Some of their people have been known to pull some pretty crazy stunts.

I would aviod those animals if at all possible. 911 would be my first choice. I know I don’t have a gun big enough to stop a lion or tiger but if I was cornered or defending my family, I’d try. 12 ga. slug at close range has got to do something. Best to stay inside and hope they don’t try to come through the window. Double pane glass won’t even slow down a big cat.

Are you kidding me? These animals should be in their natural habitat, not near a college in Ohio. They don’t deserve to be killed because some idiot wanted to keep them on a farm, where they DONT BELONG! Tranquilize them and place them in an appropriate environment.

This isn’t even remotely an ordinary happening. Those involved are doing the best they can, I’m sure. Knowledge of tranquilizing, availability of the gun and meds also are a consideration. Shooting to kill is the best tactic they have in some instances. It is not in-exusable to protect the public; they’re doing their job under extraordinary circumstances. I’m sure all involved will do their best to contain the animals, and alive if not risking a person’s life.

Lions and tigers and bears?!

Oh my!

I live in this area. My husband spotted a tiger in our yard from the house as I was outside with our dog. It was within 150 feet of our house and luckily my husband scared it away by firing a gun. We called 911. What most people do not realize is, for the most part this is a very rural area and the men and women handling this are local Sheriff’s deputies. In my county alone, we are lucky to have more than 2 deputies on duty a night because of budget issues. They do not have the man power and equipment to tranquilize and transport these animals. Our local law enforcment are more concerned with keeping people safe. Aparently these animals are aggressive and are not afraid to come near houses or people. I know it is horrible to think of that many innocent animals being killed but right now my neighbors are more concerned about what they will see when they go to put the kids on the school bus tomorrow.

Amazing that people pass judgment when they are not on the scene, not involved in law enforcement, not responsible for the safety of the community, not aware of what materials and supplies are available, never used a tranquilizer on an animal, never dealt with a situation remotely like this one and have probably never even seen one of these animals up close. But they somehow feel qualified to judge people who are undoubtedly doing the best they can do.

I read that the police used (so called) assualt rifles to kill the animals. Those are usually low powered weapons but probably all they had available. I don’t think a .223 is big enough to make a lion mad but most cops don’t carry a 500 nitro in the trunk. I hope they get something appropriate for big game before they run into a big cat or large bear. I assume they have someone who can handle a big gun.

JUST ANOTHER EXCUSE FOR COPS TO TARGET PRACTICE !!!! TRANQ THEM FIRST CHOICE UNLESS A LIFE IS IN DANGER!!!!!

Have you ever been to this part of Ohio? My guess is no. Do you think they just have endless amounts of tranquilizer and people able to use it properly and transport the animals in an area that has TWO wildlife places, one being a preserve 30 miles away, the other being a zoo that is over an hour away?? Obviously not. This is a rural area in Ohio, small towns, not a lot of action. Police stations here are not prepared for this. And by the time the zoo or preserve were able to bring tranquilizer it could be too late. Animals can travel much faster than humans, obviously. The police have to contain the animals the best they can with the materials they have.

I’m sure they don’t enjoy shooting these animals.

P.E.T.A. Did it! Sounds like their MO.

I live in Muskingum County. We are not a wealthy community and I’m sure we did not have any kind of emergency plan for something like this. So the choices are…Let them run free all over the place while we scramble to find some tranquilizer guns or shoot them right away so they don’t wandering to the bus stops and kill our children. It’s very sad that this had to happen but come on now…people’s safety is at risk and our officers are doing the right thing by trying to protect the community. Either way it’s a damn if you do or damn if you don’t situation. I love animals but I love my family more.

There is no “right” thing to do right now. They had to take action immediately to protect those of us and our families in the surrounding areas. I do not like the idea of all these animals being slaughtered, but I could not imagine one of my children or anyone for that matter getting killed over such carelessness. Do not blame the people who are trying to help. Blame the idiots who decided that we should have such weak laws on these animals in our state. This is something that should have been taken care of a long time ago. And trust me…… there is a lot more about this than you will ever get to hear about.

I understand that this is in a rural area and I agree this is a public safety issue. But come on, not enough tranquilizers? Ohio isn’t a third world country. It said they have a swat team with night vision goggles so they obviously have adequate resources here. Killing them all is inexcusable. Some of these are endangered animals. I think classifying them as man eating animals hungry and ready to.kill is a bit of an exaggeration. They should be doing what they can to protect the people but also the animals. I think killing the animal should be the last option but based on the article and others I have read it appears the sheriff has given them total authority to shoot and kill them . Very sad. The officers are going to get a lot of heat for this.for

The cages don’t open themselves. I’m guessing the owner surprised some animal rights activists who were opening the cages to “free” the animals, things got out of hand, and he was killed. Now those “free” animals are dead. Is that what you prefer, PETA? BTW – PETA regularly puts down cats and dogs in multiple animal shelters, so don’t give them too much sympathy.

all pens opened and owner dead?

you can bet this was the work of radical animal activists. there have been several reports nationwide, with ALF sending out press releases claiming responsibility, for releasing animals (who end up dead, hit int he road or shot-yeah, some freedom)

whoever up there claimed this was a suicide and the owner opened the cages must be smoking something funny- the owner had additional help for caretaking the animals, there’s no way he would have released them to be harmed.

Abusive owner, trigger happy local law enforcement and yokels, bad laws – only the animals lose. Sad. Way to go OH. You suck!

All the animals were permitted. It’s sad that people can “collect” exotic animals. There have been complaints on this guy in the past, but he was “up to code” when he was investigated. He did just get out of federal prison (for gun charges from 5 years ago – he served a 1 year sentence) and was on house arrest. Also, supposedly his wife just left him. Sooooo according to local news here in Columbus, Ohio, he opened the cages and shot himself! Irresponsible no doubt, but who knows? Maybe he was thinking about the animals in his twisted way of thinking and wanted to let them loose to live the lives they should be and not in cages….granted, that life should be in Africa or somewhere and not in the middle of a populated area. And as sad as it is for the police to shoot them, they have no choice. Human life has to come first. But the Columbus Zoo, Jack Hanna himself, and people from The Wilds are all there now with tranquilizer guns. Hopefully some of the animals can be saved. I will say however that it is in VERY bad taste to publish pictures of the dead animals! VERY VERY bad taste!

I can not believe that they are killing these animals. Every one of these animals wild or not should be tranquilized and found a good home in a zoo or private sanctuary. Some of the species are on the endangered list. Why in the world would you go shooting them. Good job Ohio being the good old hicks that you are! Flipping idiots……….

Wow worst article ever…..basically no information provided.

I love animals, possibly more than humans. This situation BREAKS MY HEART. How was this person able to cruelly and yet legally keep these animals in cages on his property? What a horrible life to live, out of your native environment, in an area where the temperature goes below freezing 4-6 months out of the year. There is no way these animals were “healthy” in any sense of the word. Some of the animals were endangered; however, none of these animals could be returned to the wild to improve breeding rates because NONE of the animals had the skills to live in the wild, not having had the opportunity to be taught by the mother the requisite survival skills. So immensely sad for all. I’m angry and hurt. This is not conservation.

That said, I’m in the area where this is happening, and I don’t appreciate the Monday morning armchair quarterbacks, with the statements that we are hicks and are unnecessarily killing animals. How ignorant and judgmental! We are doing the best we can here, with a rotten situation that was brought on by a person who must have been unimaginably ignorant to the misery he has brought to these animals over the years. Some of the cats he has kept over the years had apparently been DECLAWED! (I want to meet the vet that did that–how incredibly unethical!) It is not the first time this “sanctuary” of hell has been in the eyes of the law or animal protection.

I feel bad for this guy, though, in some respects—although I’m angry for his actions; he seems to have been tormented, perhaps mentally ill…with multiple run-ins with the law and apparently taking his own life in the end. We don’t have any reason to believe anyone else was on the property to let loose these animals, as evidence points to him being the one who did so. This is where mental health and health care in general lets us all down in the end…this guy was sick, filling some void in his life and mind with an unbelievably unhealthy fetish, and in the end, a community is terrorized and dozens of animals have to die because of it.

No, our sheriffs in Ohio do not regularly keep animal tranquilizers. Yes, it’s pretty rural in this part of Ohio. Yes, some of the animals were tranq’ed; however, have you never seen Animal Planet? It’s not that easy to do so successfully, even when the animal is pinned, let alone roaming freely. You need tremendous manpower, which no one had at the time, partly because of budget issues. One of the animals continued to run after a tranq attempt…in the dark, with limited ability to track. There is no way to know if you got the tranq in unless you watch the animal go down. No one has been trigger happy or wanted to do this…it has not been fun or sport. These are wild animals, and wild animals do attack and maul…we do not generally think of how wild animals behave because THIS IS NOT AFRICA, and thus we do not have a frame of reference. However, the situation was very volatile, in the middle of the night, in a rural area, but well-within less than a day’s trek for any of these animals to cities, towns, schools, colleges/universities, homes, farms, etc. It’s not the image people are portraying and I RESENT it tremendously. I would venture that many of us have more education than the lot on this page combined, and many of us are animal lovers, committed to animal rights and respect of Mother Earth and ALL her inhabitants. What would have been said if these animals had killed a person, or a child, or someone’s horse/cat/dog? These animals were indeed already off the grounds this man owned.

If you are that incensed by this event that you feel it necessary to make a miserable situation even worse by demonizing not only first responders but EVERYONE in the entire state, then do SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE. Please, PLEASE, write/call/email Ohio state representatives, senators, and the governor and DEMAND that the legislation go through now to that was designed to prevent people from the cruelty of keeping wild animals as pets and sideshows. Demand that they deal with this now, and design ways to enforce the law. Then, start making those calls and emails to DC. We need to make a stand now that no Man has the right to make pets of wild animals.

Then, read a book about wild animals, or watch Animal Planet…they have a great show about people keeping wild animals as “pets.” It will be an eye-opener about what happens…how many horrific events have occurred…when ordinary people play zoo-keeper. This was a disaster waiting to happen, and we’ve done the best we can to mitigate losses knowing just what COULD have happened. These are not TAMED animals because you cannot tame a wild, non-domesticated animal. Domestication of animals has taken thousands of years, and even then, people still get hurt and killed by domesticated animals every year. Thousands of people are killed every year in Africa by tigers, lions, etc., just by going into areas where these animals live; how silly to believe otherwise.

Really, folks, get a grip on yourselves. This isn’t fun for anyone and instead of ranting about how bad and evil we all are, work for changing laws and improving animal cruelty laws and enforcement.

From what I’ve read, the man was an animal nut who released the animals he loved so much and then was killed by what looks like a “self-inflicted wound”. The people in the community were caught off guard. The animals released are going after pets, horses, livestock and people. Jack Hanna from the zoo is helping the police, but even he said human lives come first. A lot of the animals were killed at very close range (which means they were probably going to attack the officer). It is heart wrenching to see them die, but if they can’t tranquilizer them safely, you have to see the need for it. Saying the people tracking these animals down are horrible is just naive. They ARE tranquilizing when it is safe.

@ Lindsey. WOW! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY COMPARING THE KILLING OF WILD ANIMALS TO THAT OF KILLING NAZI’S OR AL QAEDA???? ARE YOU F*ING SERIOUS!! IF YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THE WORLD WAS WRONG FOR KILLING NAZI’S IN WWII, YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR F*ING MIND!! THAT WAS THE MOST DISGUSTING COMMENT I HAVE EVER READ!! YOU BELIEVE THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF JEWISH PEOPLE WAS NOT WORTH OUR COUNTRY TAKING ACTION TO STOP THE NAZI’S! YOU ARE F*ING SICK! I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL WITH WILD ANIMALS CHEWING ON YOUR SOUL WHILE NAZI’S AND MEMBER OF AL QAEDA DEFILE YOUR CORPS! “Our country has a pretty consistent track record of killing things that it perceives to be dangerous whether it’s Nazi’s, Al Qaeda, or African animals” PERCEIVES?? REALLY! WE ONLY PERCEIVED NAZI’S AND AL QAEDA AS DANGEROUS?? THEY DIDN’T KILL MILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE TO DESERVE OUR PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS ABOUT THEM?? WHAT THE HELL IS A MATTER WITH YOU???

You terribly misunderstood my comment, and you’re not very good at reading, Lindsey did not make that post. I was in no way discounting the severity of the Holocaust or terrorism, quite the opposite. My point was simply that when innocent human lives are at stake, killing the threat has historically been a socially acceptable solution… Sorry that I confused you.

why were these animals in captivity in the first place?
I have read, they were declawed, de this and de that.
sounds like they were denatured.
wild animals should not be in captivity.
they belong in the wild,
thus, they are called wild animals.
zoos, and such should be outlawed.
humans do not need to go to an animal jail to enjoy what this planet has to offer.
i live in rural northern alberta ,
i see wild life every day, bears, coyotes , wolves, owls, lynx, cougars, deer, moose,elk, ect.
when we live to respect nature,
nature respects us back.
people who live in the city,
get your tent out and go on a camping trip,
sleep beneath the stars, feel the breeze on your face, sit by the campfire [even in the rain].
be quiet , listen, and watch…………………….,
experience the wild , the way it is meant to be
free and untouched by the hands of human beings.
I was brought up in the wilds of the the canadian rockies,
we kids ran the mountains like billy goats,
grizzly bears all over, black bears on the roof of our house,
no one was ever hurt.
my father taught us,
” do not fear nature, respect it.”

jewely from the canandian north

Um.. people… really..? inexcusable to shoot a wild animal capable of dissecting your innards in with its first attempt at eating you? do you people seriously think an animal’s life is in any way equatable to a human’s? The simple fact about this world is that Might Makes Right. Always has. Always will. Ever notice that even in this “sophisticated” society, those with enough money and power always have the lawyers they need to win legal cases? Might Makes Right even in our weakling-loving society. An animal is an animal. No Platos, no Aristotles, no Shakespears, no Newtons, no Einstiens, no visits to the moon… no achievements. There simply is nothing that can equate an animal’s worth to a human’s worth. Is it a shame to destroy life needlessly? Yes. Is it best to try non-lethal stuff? Probably. Is it WRONG to take an animal’s life? No.

I love animals. I love nature. But I’m also not irrational about either. You should keep a rational, intelligent head on your shoulders. Anything less is unreasonable.

You don’t blame water for being wet, but you do put a roof over your house. You direct a force of nature to be as you decide. You don’t blame an animal for mauling someone. You do kill it afterward. Yet again, you direct a force of nature to be as you decide. This ability to command the forces of nature is what makes humans different from animals. This is what makes us more valuable (confined by the obvious balance needed to keep an eco-sphere viable).

Killing one or two tigers that don’t belong in the North American eco-sphere won’t really make much of a difference at all.

To summarize the above statement for those that don’t like to read or think: Animals are animals, Humans are humans. Humans are more important than animals – because we decide so. Might Makes Right. Always has, always will. Might not be the most pleasant thought and it might not jive w/ how you wish to see the world, but how you WISH to SEE the world doesn’t change the world one bit.

Hope you enjoyed the rant and maybe it’ll get some small-minded people all fired up.

OBVIOUS SOLUTION…GUNS A BLAZIN GETS THE JOB DONE! What have we turned into as a country. Sounds like the Good Ol’ Boy approach to me. Scary… when can humans learn to use their brains again???

Way to go OH, making the country look worse than it already is, now thats an accomplishment!!

Law Enforcement are trained to preserve the sanctity of life. But because these are merely animals, they don’t have the same rights. A phone call to skilled professionals who could be flown in to tactically and efficiently round up the animals in a humane manner while minimizing the risk to humans shouldn’t be soo much to ask.

Jeffrey Dahmer ate more people than these animals.

CommonSenseLess:

You raise some valid points, but keep in mind the scale and scope of what is being done here: 48 animals (from different branches on the animal kingdom tree) hardly constitute an extinction of entire species. If you read the caveat I mentioned above, Human life is more important than animal life so long as an eco-system remains viable. We are Stewards of this Earth. That means we get to make the decisions. A good steward would naturally tend towards maintaining the balance and viability of an eco-system. We human beings also have other duties as well: such as preserving the well-being of human life. When we have to make a judgment between those two duties we MUST remember to keep things in perspective:

What are the ramifications of choice A?
What are the ramifications of choice B?
etc..etc..etc…

One of the ways to confine the infinite cause-effect-effect-effect (etc…) is to determine how large or small the effects of those choices will be, relative to the mandates of our various duties. In this case, a complete Scorched Earth policy to all 48 animals won’t make much of a difference at all. I’m not advocating that, but I’m not against it either. What does bother me is how many people have already posted on this forum that they’re all aghast at killing these animals – as if they’re equal to humans. Simply put, they are NOT equal to humans. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool – and I’m astounded by how many fools have already commented here. Humans have the ability to leave this planet. We have a capacity to formulate infinitely complex concepts and somehow people think we’re the same as a dog, cat, bird, etc..? No people, there haven’t been any advances in society, religion, ethics, science, knowledge, etc. that have ever been contributed by an animal. No animal has ever conceived of space flight nor have any animals ever built skyscrapers. There are no monuments nor achievements that you can point to and say “There, see? That monument was done by .” or “This achievement was created by .”

Animals are not human. Deal with it, people.

btw, I’m completely w/ you on the murders thing – lock ‘em all up on an island somewhere… worked for Britain :-p (Sorry ’bout the jab, Australian readers)

“Man-eaters?” Is that video clip joking? The animals were fed very recently, and had been receiving meals on a more regular basis than they would have in the wild. If they’ve been fed by people for such an extended period of time, they are going to expect people to feed them (potentially approaching with little signs of fear) but they aren’t going to immediately attack every person with which they come into contact.
There’s slightly more concern to be had over whether they would attack small children, but please spare me. They need to shoot to kill all of these animals? Did anyone consult biologists or animal ethologists in this situation, or were they too busy being in a panic?

Some of these animals are endangered, that’s why you should try and capture them alive. Most people don’t realize that animals were on this planet long before humans. Now there are hardly any left.

why is it that humans think they are the only animal on earth, and also seem to forget that we are animals as well? you’re in the boons of Ohio you can afford a couple more hours in front of your TV watching the price is right while reasonable, caring humans(if there are any left) track the animals down and transport them somewhere safe. with these species going extinct the number of animals on this preserve should have been a Godsend, not a catastrophe.

I have no problem with them putting down these animals if they attacked someone. However, these animals didn’t attack or hurt anyone. I know the next question…Well dont give them the chance right? Just shoot them before they hurt anyone. This is a difficult subject to talk. We have no idea if these animals were going to hurt anyone or not. Most likely they were not going to hurt anyone. It seems as if the officers acted out of the fear that they may hurt someone. In my opinion, that is a rash decision and this was all carried out wayyyyy to quickly. In this same light, we should also execute any human who has the capability of killing any other human, which is pretty much everyone. The argument that it was to kill all of these animals is ludicrous, especially the camels and giraffes? WTF..why dont those officers run around and shoot all the dogs and cats running loose as well, they could potentially hurt someone to ya know. Sounds like the cops in OH had a nice legal exotic animal hunting spree if you ask me.

ANON (and all the people who’ve posted similar):

Do you really wait until a crisis is UPON YOU to do your planning? If you do, I sure as hell hope I never have to rely on your planning skills. Part of being intelligent (if you are) is knowing a reasonable danger exists and doing something about it. This is one of the biggest distinctions between humans and animals. Only a fool would wait until a tiger is gnawing on his/her kid’s head to do something. Only an idiot would espouse waiting to act until the lion was munching on his/her loved one’s body to think “I wonder, what should I do..?”.

So the simple question for you is: What are you thinking (if you are) when you say there is “no REAL reason or evidence that this needed to be done.” ???

Please, turn your brains on before posting, people.

JENNIFER: I hope you and your family are and remain safe and know that there is at least one human being out there who values your lives over an un-intelligent, un-tamed, less-than-human animal. As for all the rest of you fools out there who think a lion is more important than a human baby… I hope this DOES happen in your back yard – it’d clean out the gene pool quite nicely.

“These are wild animals, wild animals that you would see on TV in Africa,”
Police describe the animals as “mature, very big and aggressive.”

Maybe they need to send these cops to clear out National Parks such as Yellowstone … that many potentially dangerous animals around all those tourists?

“This is a bad situation,” Mutz said. “It’s been a bad situation for a long time and the last thing we want to do is have any of our public hurt.”

My sentiments exactly Mutz … the quicker you can get in there an eliminate all of them the better off people will be

This is ridiculous they should have tried better to save these animals, tigers are going extinct people aren’t so yes I think they should have bothered to try. people could stay in there house and they would be fine so this is bull.

I live in zanesville and I feel sick that all the innocent animals had to die, for what? They was caged pets scared and set loose they did nothing wrong. Not one person was hurt the Sherrif officers caused panic telling everyone to stay in closing schools (Lutz) thinks he is always wright I feel he made a big mistake , they could have done anything else but kill all them innocent wonderful animals , this is just sick

Jack Hanna said it’s not as easy to tranquilize animals as people think it is. He, as one of the most famous animal lovers in this country, said that the officers had no choice but to shoot. It hurts to read so many negative comments about the officers that had to do what they had to do. We are not a bunch of stupid hillbillies or ignorant hicks because we live in a small town. We are people just like you, who just happen to have been faced with an awful situation. Living in the city doesn’t make you smarter and you have no idea how your own police officers would have reacted in the same situation. Nobody is proud of anything that has happened here in the last 24 hours. We are sad and hope that something like this never happens again, anywhere. Matt Lutz is a great sheriff and our officers work hard to protect us everyday. I’m sorry to burst everybody’s bubble but no one is having fun with this, it’s sad. Think what you want but it really takes a small mind to think anyone would be enjoying something like this. We may live in a rural area but it doesn’t mean we are savages. Quit stereotyping us because it’s just plain rude and ignorant.

This is a horrible story. Unfortunately, another example of animal cruelty and this seems to be one of the worst cases.
With no laws in place to protect these animals, they are allowed to live in unstable and poor quarters, in small areas (whether its numerous acres or a smaller scale) that are not regularly checked by any agency with no regulations.
These animals have no choice or vote but to be where ever they were sold/traded/exported/imported and then placed.
Then this happens; Owner of exotic animal allows it to go too far, get near a person, attacks someone out of frustration, or in this case, lets them loose. From there the scared animal does what any animal would do, attacks, acts out, looks for food they have maybe not received in some time, etc. and the animal then is putting human life in danger and is hunted down and killed.
Stricter animal laws must be passed. This is not the fault of the community that is now in fear of what lurks around corners, or the animal out looking for food to hunt or eat, it falls on the law makers in Ohio who allow these situations to take place. More than the guy who wanted to own all of them, more than the guy that sold him the animals. The lawmakers need to recognize what their responsibility is and make changes because this is a complete no win for any one.

I can see a lot insane people on this thread, if you have ever been attacked by a wild dog I am sure next time you see a not-so-friendly dog you will shot at it first before saying anything not to talk of wild big cats that jumping at you is enough to knock life at of your body before settling down to perform a cesarean section on you! Where is human sanity? They said wild big aggressive cats are on loose and you are saying they should tranquilize them, have you forgotten those carts in questions are best of hunters?

I just watched the disturbing news footage of the dozens of beautiful animals: lions, tigers, cheetahs, bears, and wolves lying dead. Nothing but innocent victims of a bloody massacre at the hasty, inept hands of Ohio law enforcement. My heart aches, my eyes cry, and my blood boils to know the fear and pain these precious and magnificent creatures endured in their final moments of imprisoned lives. What is wrong with a world that tortures the guiltless and embraces the guilty??? Why can an angry man walk into a southern California hair salon, brutally murder eight beloved, irreplaceable people, thereby leaving his own child parent-less; Only to be peacefully apprehended by police and calmly taken into custody, where, for the next several years, he will waste millions of tax-payer dollars on preserving his own life through his incarceration, defense motions, and trials??? However, why can a animal sanctuary owner who supposedly committed suicide and was apparently disturbed enough to willingly release his sinless prisoners, immediately sentence these wondrous (and endangered) animals to instant death by a law-enforcement agency too trigger happy and too afraid to be rationally compassionate??? Our world, our intellect, our empathy is seriously flawed.
To all the animal-haters and the absolute dictators who believe that man has the ultimate right to do and act however he wants, think again. MAN is the WORST animal among us, for we are responsible for not only our own misery, but the suffering of every other being on this planet. There is no might makes right because God Almighty created every animal with as much love and foresight as any other. Educate yourselves… For in the beginning, God created the animals as Adam’s companions, and only when He saw Adam still longing, did He then create Eve.
Man is the steward of this earth, not the dictatorial annihilator. Man is supposed to have the highest intelligence and rationale of all creatures so that we can mange our earth’s resources and our fellow companion’s with care and compassion and respect for all. Those of us who care so passionately for our animal friends is because we value and empathize with ALL of God’s creations. We grasp the revelation that animals are at the mercy of our hands and so they need our mercy to survive. Do not disrespect us or label us with your ridiculous accusations that we love animals at the expense of humans. None of us wished for any human to be harmed. None of us wanted your children eaten or your spouses mauled. None of us wanted there to be a deadly showdown between a tiger and a mother. What we wanted was a way for all to survive a catastrophic circumstance in which no one but man was at fault, and yet, no one but the ANIMALS were EXECUTED.
There are so many accounts of what happened yet conclusively we know these animals were maintained in captivity and were used to humans. They were not the blood-thirsty, vicious, predators savagely prowling for the townsfolk that so many of you are trying to portray. Although many people sited them and encountered them, listen to the 9-1-1 calls, not one person even came close to being a victim of these animals, so why the mass-hysteria and the mass-assassinations??? For those of us who are outraged it is because so much more should have been done to at least try and save them. Many of them were gun-downed trying to get back to their enclosures. How ignorant, lazy, revolting, and disgustingly cold-hearted is that???
To those who wish to respond that there is no God, don’t waste my time. Whether you believe in Him or not, He exists. Whether you believe in Him or not, there is a payday someday where each of us will all answer for what we have done and what we have failed to do. Ohio failed!!! Yet rest easy y’all, because now all the big, bad animals are permanently DEAD!!!

HA HA HA! I appreciate all of the sane minded people out there that understand that the safest way to take control of this situation was to kill the animals. There is no need for me to go into reason why because I believe many of you did a very good job with this. However there is a need to explain why the ones who were against killing these animals are wrong. None of you were able to intelligently defend your position of “they shouldn’t have killed these animals.” First off tranquilizing them is extremely difficult. With every minute that passed with these animals loose they ran the risk of the animals getting farther away and having to spend additional time and resources searching for them. I am a hunter and with the proper training it is difficult enough to safely harvest these types of animals. To do this to 40+ highly dangerous animals with the resources available is absurd. They didn’t even have the man power available with the proper knowledge on tranquilizing these animals. That being said, no what do you people propose they do with these animals if they somehow were able to capture them? Yet again there is no logical answer. I am not a vicious killer. Yes I hunt, but if you ask anyone who knows me I have a bigger heart for animals than for human beings. I will give to an animal charity before I give to the poor. I have and will continue to pull over and move a turtle out of the road or slow down for a squirrel.

In this situation though this was the BEST option available. It’s not a good thing that happened but it was the best outcome with the resources available.

Oh and for those of you who think these animals are vicious and unable to be tamed why don’t you go read about the two people that raised a lion and set it free into the wild and came back forty years later and the lion not only remembered them he ran to greet them and licked their faces how is that any different from your dog or cat? More people die from being attacked by pit bulls than jungle cats. My brother was bitten in the face by a dog he had known his whole life and taken care of. He had to have hundreds of stitches and numerous plastic surgeries and by the grace of God you can barely tell. My point being any animal is capable of hurting someone should we just kill them all?

The pictures of the murder of these majestic animals were sickening. Hopefully none of these animals will end up on a trophy wall in some cops house. Oh wait, maybe these cops can now be called great white hunters. Where were the tranquilzers and tranq guns? If the law knew these animals were in enclosures at some ones house why were they not prepared for any eventuallity. This country is trigger happy, we do not try to prevent a problem, we wait until a tragedy happens and then we bring out the guns. These animals were not at fault, they did nothing wrong but were brutally murdered. Have not heard of any animals threatening any human, but they were killed anyway. The cops were not prepared and had not clue what to do but shoot. So if a big dog growls at me, I can now shoot it first and ask questions later, and the owner of the big dog cannot sue me for the death of the dog that growled at me? Same difference, dogs and cats were once wild and if they are treated badly they will attack even if they are so-called domestic animals. This is a sad time for endangered animals.

After an all-night hunt that extended into Wednesday afternoon, 48 animals were killed. Six others — three leopards, a grizzly bear and two monkeys — were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo. A wolf was later found dead, leaving a monkey as the only animal still on the loose…….fyi the monkey on the loose has herpes!! I am sure that isn’t the only one who had it. I love animals, my kids and I area always watching Nat Geo Wild. It is very sad, but these cops had no choice. These animals where trying to get into house, so staying indoor wasn’t a option when the animals was trying to get into your house.

PEOPLE…………some people have no idea what they are talking about!

Wild animals kill to eat and to protect themselves; the only defenses they have!
Man is the only animal who does NOT have to kill to survive, and yet, he does kill every day, in every way because he enjoys killing and/or he is purely evil!

WoW!! What an embarrassment!
So let me see if I understand this correctly….
1) Ohio allows any adult to collect and handle live, dangerous, exotic animals.
2) Ohio does not require ANY specific reasoning or specialized training, licensing, or property for an individual to house dangerous exotic animals.
3) Ohio does not impose a limit on the number of dangerous exotic animals a person can own and house on their private property.
4) Ohio does not have the budget/resources to properly handle a SINGLE case of ONE individual who all too easily opened cages to free the dangerous exotic animals on his property, when there are many more such individuals within the state who also own such animals and who may at any time exercise their free will to let them loose.

LACK.OF.COMMON.SENSE

My heart goes out to all those poor animals. My hope is for a return to common sense for a change and that those animals shot and killed didn’t lose their lives for nothing.

Who are we to think we can own and mistreat such animals and then dispose of them so easily in the name of “safety”? A disgrace!!

I hope by “shoot” they mean with really big bullets. if they’re tranq-ing these things that’s inexcusable….because unexcusable isn’t a word.