It's a zoo... er was

At Least 48 Animals Escape Muskingum Co. Exotic Animal Farm

ZANESVILLE, Ohio - Police said they have shot at least 25 of at least 48 escaped exotic animals on Tuesday night.

Terry Thompson, the owner of the farm, was found dead outside of his home on the animal farm property.

Police said the fences had been left unsecured.

According to police, the animals escaped at about 6 p.m. from an animal farm near Kopchak Road.

Police would not comment on what animals escaped but said the animal farm did have lions, wolves, cheetahs, tigers, giraffes, camels, grizzly bears and black bears.

“It’s been a bad situation for a long time and the last thing we want to do is to have any of our public hurt,” said Muskingum Sheriff Matt Lutz. “No young kids should go outside tonight.”

According to police, bears and wolves had been shot and killed.

There were multiple sightings of exotic animals along Interstate 70, police said.

Muskingum Sheriff Matt Lutz said resident safety is his primary concern.

“We want our citizens to take any and all precautions they can tonight,” said Lutz. “Our number one priority is nobody gets hurt out of this ordeal. This is a bad situation.”

Police said staff from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and The Wilds were on scene, hoping to tranquilize the animals and return them to safety.

Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV News for more information.

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2011/10/18/zanesville-exotic-animals-escape.html

A whole article of shooting escaped animals ("Police said they have shot at least 25 of at least 48 escaped exotic animals") and this one lousy sentence with no explanation at all about the owner.

"Terry Thompson, the owner of the farm, was found dead outside of his home on the animal farm property."

Was he attacked and eaten by the animals?

Did the police shoot him and why?

A burglary?

A heart attack?

Nothing?

It's breaking news, authorities may not know yet, owner was found DOA on site after animals had escaped

I am guessing insanity and suicide...

Sheriff: "We don’t know how much of a head start these animals had on us. We're shooting to kill."

SWAT team called in to hunt down escaped animals.

OK--that's really sad.

I hope the lives of these "exotic" animals are spared. I mean, there's no need to kill a giraffe. Tranquilize it, fine--just don't kill it.

Sounds like some shady crappe was going on in that farm.

Aw, heck. Based on the title I was hoping that this was a thread about Congressional reform.

So instead of hiring professionals to re-capture them they are just killing no questions asked? Must all have exotic rabies or something.

I can assure the SWAT team members are getting their rocks off on this one. Going on a safari and never leaving home.

Dangerous animals on the lose. They don't need exotic rabies to kill. I'm sure those that are less dangerous (such as giraffes) will not be killed.

Its the crazy ass owners fault their loose.

In addition, I love shooting, but I wouldn't be happy in that swat teams situation. I'm sure some of them feel the same.

Time to put some meat in the freezer, boys!

Too bad they can't clean up Detroit the same way...

I'm guessing the time frame is the big reason for allowing people to kill the animals. How long would it take for trained people to either capture or tranquilize all of these animals? A giraffe can kill a lion with a kick, what happens when a couple of kids walk around a corner of a building and startle the giraffe and they get kicked?

The whole area is in locked down. School are being shut down. Residents are told to stay inside.

If I was local and had a tranquilizer gun and knew how much to use on a lion, you bet I'd be out there.

If my family and kids were in danger and I had a rifle to kill a dangerous animal, you better believe it I'm going to shoot it.

RossD wrote: A giraffe can kill a lion with a kick, what happens when a couple of kids walk around a corner of a building and startle the giraffe and they get kicked?

RossD wrote: If I was local and had a tranquilizer gun and knew how much to use on a lion, you bet I'd be out there. If my family and kids were in danger and I had a rifle to kill a dangerous animal, you better believe it I'm going to shoot it.

+1

Maybe PETA got the owner.

Hitting a Deer along I70 sucks. Hitting a 600 pound tiger would suck more, and be awesome at the same time.

pinchvalve wrote: Hitting a Deer along I70 sucks. Hitting a 600 pound tiger would suck more, and be awesome at the same time.

You better hope you hit him right, if you just clip him he'll be pissed enough to open up that tin can you're driving and get the cat food out!

I clicked the "update" button on the story, seems the zoo owner let all the critters go before commiting suicide.

Was it a legal zoo? There was one nearby, out in the woods away from anyone but the yuppies started crowding in, next thing ya know the zoo owner has a pack of trouble. He had been there 20 years or so and totally legal.

Similar story with a nearby race track, dirt oval since 1956. Suburbia moved in around turn three and started cranking about the noise and dust. Wait, you didn't see the big sign when you bought the house?

Track's currently for sale.

There's more to this zoo story than you will hear.....

If you kill one can you keep the pelt? Its not poaching.

ThePhranc wrote: If you kill one can you keep the pelt? Its not poaching.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-18/exotic-animals-loose-ohio/50821092/1

One person who tried to steal the body of a dead cat Tuesday night was arrested and will be charged.

FWIW, I used to live near there. You'd occasionally see a giraffe in a field when driving by, but nothing else to indicate that there were lots of odd critters.

Where can you shoot a giraffe anyway?

A guy I know is a big hunter, stuffs everything he shoots. He has a 24 X 30 garage full of dead animals! Behind his bar is a stuffed giraffe; legs poke out of the wall, four feet higher the neck head pokes out.

I guess if you have the money, anything's possible. He did it legally but I'm surprised the tree huggers haven't hunted him down.

Dan

I still don't understand why people can legally own these animals, every time I catch an episode of deadly attractions about a guy with a tiger in his apartment or a lady with 23 tigers in her backyard it makes me sick. I couldn't shoot a cheetah, giraffe, wolf, or tiger.

The update story I just read didn't say anything about giraffes:

Authorities in Ohio said they successfully killed 48 of the 56 animals that were released from a wild-animal preserve, ranging from brown bears to Bengal tigers, before any reported injuries in the area.

There are currently two missing animals: a gray wolf and a monkey. The monkey is likely carrying Herpes-B, and will be shot and killed.

The deceased animals include a wolf, six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, a baboon, three mountain lions and 18 tigers, authorities said. They were buried at the location they were killed.

Authorities were able to transport six animals to the Columbus Zoo, a grizzly bear, three leopards and two monkeys.

914Driver wrote: I clicked the "update" button on the story, seems the zoo owner let all the critters go before commiting suicide. Was it a legal zoo? There was one nearby, out in the woods away from anyone but the yuppies started crowding in, next thing ya know the zoo owner has a pack of trouble. He had been there 20 years or so and totally legal. Similar story with a nearby race track, dirt oval since 1956. Suburbia moved in around turn three and started cranking about the noise and dust. Wait, you didn't see the big sign when you bought the house? Track's currently for sale. There's more to this zoo story than you will hear.....

They really shouldn't allow you to own dangerous animals if you're just going to commit suicide.

Hopefully we don't start having a huge epidemic that drives us underground.