Not being familiar with any of the varying states' laws on keeping dangerous wild animals (and let's face it virtually any animal can turn nasty in the wrong situation) I'll restrain myself to making the observation that if zoos bred their animals responsibly that many fewer would end up in irresponsible hands. Many places in the UK kept and bred pumas in the 1960s/1970s. Quite where they all went to, especially post Dangerous Wild Animals Act in 1976, is a moot point. But if I had £50 for each tale of a mystery big cat on the loose in the last 25 years my bank manager would be very pleased with me...
For as fired up as I was when I wrote my initial post I feel equally bad about offending some people.I certainly knew I would turn some people off but I let my emotions which I tend to wear on my sleeve get the best of me.Two things in which I am very passionate about politics and animals were thrown together and I took the bait on it hook line and sinker and it got away from me.I love Zoo Chat and would like to apologize for getting out of line.The whole thing was just kind of a perfect storm to me. 1.It involved my home state who's government I am often critical of 2.It involved my favorite zoo which I just felt awful that they were a part of this 3.The animals which are the real victims here and its for them that my passion runs deep. I really got caught up and it was easy to lash out again would like to say again sorry to all who I upset with a careless choice of words. Marty of Team Tapir
It's an awful situation however you look at it Marty. You were (are) in the middle of it and I don't see how anybody couldn't have a strong opinion about it. It will be interesting to see if this results in any change in how wild animal ownership by private individuals is regulated in Ohio. I hope that the remaining animals find much better homes than they had and that hopefully nothing like this ever happens again anywhere.
This reminds me why I said I respect you in my initial post. We all get carried away sometimes, and you were very involved in this situation (not literally). I know you probably don't wan't to be lectured by me. But I agree with the main point of this, that more restriction is definatly needed, so the police, Jack Hanna, and most importantly the animals aren't thrown into a situation like this. Very sad indeed.
I feel terrible for the animals, administrators, and especially for the people who had to euthanize the animals. From the words of the Chief Operating Officer of Columbus Zoo and The Wilds: "It was the worst day of my life," Mr Stalf says of seeing dozens of dead animals of endangered species, which, for years he's educated people about, taken care of and campaigned for the conservation of. "To have to see this tragedy was beyond words." I currently attend school in Ohio and have done work at several sanctuaries (including reptiles, primates, and native animals) in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. At each of these, the individuals who are running them say that Ohio laws concerning exotics are terrible and I have seen this first hand. As disastrous as this event is, hopefully the laws will be changed and the true sanctuaries will have much less animals that need care at their doorsteps.
My brother just called me having just realized the magnitude of what happened down in Zanesville and I nearly started crying on the phone with him.I have been around exotic animals since before I could talk and have never seen anything like this.So as my cooler head has prevailed I realize that this very well might have been the only thing that could have been I am just having a hard time dealing with it.I also feel bad for what I said about Jack Hannah after hearing some of his comments I can't believe what this must be like for him.Hopefully good change comes of this. Marty of Team Tapir
I dont wanna jump on the crazy train here, but wow... that all the involved factors here occured resulting in this mess makes me sick beyond belief. The fact that a mentally unstable man was able to get ahold of over 50 big cats, primates, canids, and bears. The fact that they were let out. The fact that hysteria led to all of these animals being SLAUGHTERED. The fact that someone who was thought of as one of the greatest warriors in the modern conservation movement was at the frontlines of this massacre. Thinking about it makes me wanna throw up... makes me wanna move far, far away from humanity... makes me wanna quit trying to spread the message of conservation because apparently it's NOT WORKING. And definitely makes me wanna say **** YOU, Jack Hannah. I've heard a million excuses for why the animals weren't tranq'd... it was too dark, it wasn't fail-proof enough, it would make the animals more aggressive, whatever. It's disgusting and despicable. This was definitely a difficult situation to deal with. Unfortunately, in the way it was dealt with, it went horribly, horribly wrong. It's so tragic how this kind of thing is fueled by hysteria. As the song goes, deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow... When I first saw those pictures I assumed it was a poaching raid...
C'mon guys. Once the animals were released, what did you expect the local authorities to do? Set bait traps? We're talking about animals that are used to humans, probably have fewer inhibitions about approaching them and are quite capable of killing even adults. Dusk was falling which would have made it impossible to keep tabs on where the animals were. It was not feasible or reasonable to expect everybody in the district to stay indoors until over 50 animals could be captured. Whatever this man's problems, and I would point out that people who commit suicide are *always* victims of their own particular tragedy, he killed these animals as surely as if he had pulled the triggers himself. Jack Hanna and the local cops were just left to do the dirty work. **** happens. This is a direct consequence of dangerous wild animals being kept in captivity. Accept it.
I have heard such conflicting reports... I was told Jack Hannah gave the green light to kill the animals, I was told he was against it but defended it afterwards, I was told he was uninvolved. I've never had such mixed emotions in my life... it makes me so angry and so sad and so sick...
I am obviously not against zoos having dangerous and exotic animals. I am however, against individuals owning them for their own pleasure or whatever. One reason for this, which I haven't seen mentioned, is that the illegal wildlife trade is a huge problem for many species and this supports that trade. The other main reason is what just happened. People really can't be trusted with these animals and the animals deserve better.
Mweb08 you raise some excellent points here.I read somewhere today that Jack Hannah eluded to illegal wildlife auctions that go on throughout the state of Ohio and that shutting these down is a priority.I am sure this goes on throughout the US and this deplorable incident has got to open more eyes to this. Team Tapir
Exactly right These animals and many would not have existed if it was not for private zoos. They did not harm when they were released before they were killed. Millions of animals die everyday, what is so special about these ones. This one owner going crazy is not reason for banning private ownership. I get sick of hearing how people can not be trusted with dangerous dogs, fast cars, knives, guns, it wont stop until we are all eating our vegetarian meals with blunt plastic cutting devices and putting on our padded protective suits and helmets to go outside.
I don't consider one guy owning a bunch of animals for his own pleasure to be a zoo. As far as your line about the animals not doing anyone harm, I am much more concerned with the welfare of the animals than the public or owner(s) in situations like this (before and after the escape). What makes some of these animals special is that they are endangered. Regardless, this could have easily been avoided. The people who died at Columbine were no more special than others, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a lesson to be learned from it.
Nobody is saying it doesn't suck that the animals were killed. Having said that, I highly doubt there were any animals of use to conservation programs in this collection. If you really put the lives of these animals *ahead* of people in the area... well, that is your choice, but I'm glad you were not in the position to make decisions in this situation. Human lives come first.
I don't put them ahead of people, but emotionally, I do care immensely about the animals being killed. What I mostly meant is that people like this owning exotic dangerous animals puts the person and the animals in unnecessary danger, and in that case I care much more about the animals because they have no control over the situation. Having them also puts innocent people in the surrounding area at risk if situations like this happen and I obviously want to avoid them being in any danger. However, if the animals get out, they are very likely to be killed and zero people are likely to be killed. So that goes back to what I said as well.
This really is awful... and we need to get a hold on our outrage before we hit the keyboard. Attacks on an entire region's populace or on Jack Hanna or on people who own animals aren't constructive. Is ranting so that I feel better, regardless of the damage done to others, really who we want to be? If a keeper at a regulated zoo released animals, there would be -- in most cases -- back up fencing so that it wouldn't be a matter of throwing open one gate and the tigers are out in the neighborhood. It would take a conspiracy t do this much damage at a regulated zoo! Not one upset person. Many states require owners of guns to keep them locked up in one way or another, that's really all the regulation that safety requires here. Proper safeguards. Having one person in a position to release potentially dangerous animals is not safe. Jack Hanna and many zoo people have faced this painful decision before when dangerous animals escape. To attack him for supporting what clearly is a painful process is purely malicious. Suggesting he "gave the go ahead" to kill the animals is ignorant. When do sheriffs take orders from Jack Hanna? Having met the guy, I truly believe this is awful for him. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlin...ville-ohio-animals-we-would-have-had-carnage/ Reading the reports, I really don't know what other measures people expected the sheriff to take Animal killings near Zanesville, Ohio, unavoidable, Jack Hanna says And I will add that the current political climate in Ohio is not going to be supportive of regulations on anything. Expired Ohio rule regulated exotic animals Ironically, it was an attempt to regulate this guy that seems to have precipitated all the carnage: http://www.tenterfieldstar.com.au/n...hbours-terry-thompsons-final-act/2330547.aspx
This article from the Washington Post covers most of the aspects of the Ohio mess that we have been talking about: the underlying exotic animal market in the US, the exotic animal regulatory landscape in Ohio and across the US, and the particulars of the history of the guy who started the current awful situation. Dangerous exotic animals turned loose, hunted down in Ohio - The Washington Post
Finally a bit of good news from Ohio regarding the health of the surviving animals: Zoo: Surviving animals from Ohio farm doing well - Yahoo! News
There are two tragedies here. One is of course that so many animals were killed and a man took his own life. The other is that animal rights extremists now have more ammunition to try to ban wild animals in captivity (including some very good private zoos). The Washington Post article above already hints at this and quotes some outright lies that these groups perpetuate. If you believe their hype, every neighborhood in America you drive through has someone with a tiger or bear in their garage. This is hogwash. For instance, the article quotes an alleged authority saying in Ohio "there are thousands of people with dangerous exotics in their homes." Really - thousands??? A hundred I could believe, but thousands? And how do you define "dangerous" exotics? Some of the species listed in the auctions are animals like llamas. Get a clue people - those are domestic animals!!! Here is another quote and the phrase "interest groups" should raise a huge red flag (translation = PETA and their kin). "...reports from interest groups, 5,000 tigers are held by U.S. owners." This number is so out there it is ridiculous. As you may recall, some of them used to say there were 5,000 privately owned tigers in Texas alone (and they still say there are several thousand there). So the Feline Conservation Federation did an investigation, including interviews with some of the Texas humane groups that the extremists claim to have gotten their statistics from. Do you know how many Texas tigers there are in private ownership? Just over 300. Most of these are not "pet" tigers as the extremists claim, they are in private wildlife parks or similar. Are wild animals traded among private owners in America: yes. Is the situation as extreme as animal extremists claim: not even close. Let us not forget, some of these groups want to see ALL ZOOS shut down, not just private ones. Do NOT let them use this incident to further their agendas and do NOT believe their lies. Any statement they make should be taken with a grain (or pound) of salt.
Boa constrictors, Burmese pythons and reticulated pythons. Venomous snakes and crocodilians to a lesser extent. If these are being counted the numbers in Ohio alone could easily be in five figures, not four.
