That Problem Solved
The picture of a rebel, a societal misfit, someone who chose to surround himself - and just incidentally his helpless, hapless neighbours as well - with his selection of exotic wild animals, thanks to notoriously lax animal-welfare laws in the State of Ohio. A man whose exploits certainly did not endear him to his neighbours, rounded up animals within his 73-acre farm in eastern Ohio. These were not just any animals, cute and cuddly, exotic and colourful.
Among them were black bears, grizzlies, lions, Bengal tigers, wolves, baboons, leopards; huge beasts which cannot have been too comfortable living on a farm in Ohio. As such animals would seek to do, some from time to time escaped the confines of the enclosures they were maintained in. The natural and the physical environment would certainly not have been conducive to solace for animals taken such a far distance from all that might have been familiar to them.
There were many complaints lodged against their owner, Terry Thompson, related to animals escaping their confines and claims of abuse and maltreatment. One particularly unsavoury complaint was that the man neglected the horses he owned, failed to adequately nourish them, and finally simply fed them to his lions when the horses died of starvation. Despite which the Muskingum County Animal Shelter said he met the bare minimum requirements for keeping the animals.
Mr. Thompson's long-suffering neighbours could do nothing about their misfortune to be living close by this man with his menagerie of potentially dangerous wild animals. His wife left him, and he was said to have become depressed. Certainly something caused him to commit suicide, though he left no explanatory note. He did, however, before he took his life, unpen all his animals, leaving them free to do whatever they would.
They must surely have been confused and uncertain. At a neighbour's 911 call upon seeing animals roaming about, police discovered Mr. Thompson's body, surrounded by animals. An attempt was initially made to shoot some of the animals with tranquilizer guns, but that attempt failed. The entire community went into lockdown mode, with schools closed and signs erected on the highway to warn motorists that wild animals were at large and to proceed with caution.
In the end, authorities killed 48 of the 56 animals that Terry Thompson had acquired and cared for. One lion was killed when it was struck by a vehicle on a highway, and a monkey was caught and eaten by another lion. Among those killed were tigers, black bears, grizzlies and 17 lions and Bengal tigers. The animals were buried on the farm. Those that survived were taken to the Columbus Zoo; three leopards, a grizzly and two macaque monkeys.
"We've handled numerous complaints there, we've done numerous inspections here. So this has been a huge problem for us for a number of years", explained the county Sheriff, Matt Lutz. Unspeakably sad that eighteen endangered Bengal tigers had to be shot, along with all the other animals who posed a threat to the community.
Incredible that an individual could be permitted to assemble such a wide range of dangerous wild animals, for his personal pleasure or whatever it was that drove the man to acquire them and control them. Clearly the laws governing animal ownership and the conditions under which they are kept should be re-visited and upgraded for the protection of both man and beast.
Among them were black bears, grizzlies, lions, Bengal tigers, wolves, baboons, leopards; huge beasts which cannot have been too comfortable living on a farm in Ohio. As such animals would seek to do, some from time to time escaped the confines of the enclosures they were maintained in. The natural and the physical environment would certainly not have been conducive to solace for animals taken such a far distance from all that might have been familiar to them.
There were many complaints lodged against their owner, Terry Thompson, related to animals escaping their confines and claims of abuse and maltreatment. One particularly unsavoury complaint was that the man neglected the horses he owned, failed to adequately nourish them, and finally simply fed them to his lions when the horses died of starvation. Despite which the Muskingum County Animal Shelter said he met the bare minimum requirements for keeping the animals.
Mr. Thompson's long-suffering neighbours could do nothing about their misfortune to be living close by this man with his menagerie of potentially dangerous wild animals. His wife left him, and he was said to have become depressed. Certainly something caused him to commit suicide, though he left no explanatory note. He did, however, before he took his life, unpen all his animals, leaving them free to do whatever they would.
They must surely have been confused and uncertain. At a neighbour's 911 call upon seeing animals roaming about, police discovered Mr. Thompson's body, surrounded by animals. An attempt was initially made to shoot some of the animals with tranquilizer guns, but that attempt failed. The entire community went into lockdown mode, with schools closed and signs erected on the highway to warn motorists that wild animals were at large and to proceed with caution.
In the end, authorities killed 48 of the 56 animals that Terry Thompson had acquired and cared for. One lion was killed when it was struck by a vehicle on a highway, and a monkey was caught and eaten by another lion. Among those killed were tigers, black bears, grizzlies and 17 lions and Bengal tigers. The animals were buried on the farm. Those that survived were taken to the Columbus Zoo; three leopards, a grizzly and two macaque monkeys.
"We've handled numerous complaints there, we've done numerous inspections here. So this has been a huge problem for us for a number of years", explained the county Sheriff, Matt Lutz. Unspeakably sad that eighteen endangered Bengal tigers had to be shot, along with all the other animals who posed a threat to the community.
Incredible that an individual could be permitted to assemble such a wide range of dangerous wild animals, for his personal pleasure or whatever it was that drove the man to acquire them and control them. Clearly the laws governing animal ownership and the conditions under which they are kept should be re-visited and upgraded for the protection of both man and beast.
Labels: Animal Stories, Social-Cultural Deviations
posted by Pieface @ 5:47 PM
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