As you may have heard this week in the news, over 50 exotic animals escaped from a residence in Zanesville Monday night . The owner of the property, Terry Thompson, reportedly let most of the animals out of their cages and then shot himself. The animals left the property and roamed the Zanesville area. Many locals called in to the sheriff's department reporting sightings of exotic animals. Local schools were closed and deputies were ordered to shoot the animals on sight because of the threat they posed to the community. By Wednesday, 49 of the 56 animals had been shot and killed. They consisted of wolves, black bears, lions, a baboon, mountain lions and tigers. Thompson was also keeping giraffes, camels, and chimpanzees on his property. Jack Hannah drove overnight in attempt to rescue some of the escaped animals but only 6 were able to be transported to the Columbus Zoo.
So what do you guys think? Many of my friends have been arguing about what the right thing to do would have been in this situation. Do you think more should have been done to protect the escaped animals as opposed to shooting them? Or was it a necessary action to keep the community safe?
I heard this news and there are still one wolf and one monkey escaping. I hope they could be caught and sent to a safe place soon instead of shooting. What I said above is as a bystander because that happened far from the campus, but if it happened near to me, I would request a safer way which is shooting them since I really need to consider the people's lives, such as my family, my friends. I believe the people around that area were really concerned about this situation. They all want everyone safe especially their relatives. Shooting the exotic animals is the best and fastest way to keep the community safe. All in all, people's lives are more important than the animals'.
ReplyDeleteThis story hit close to home because my father was born and raised in Zanesville and that is where some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, live. First of all, after my dad talked with some old friends who knew the man who let the animals loose, he found out that the man, after returning from Vietnam, was very unstable and many thought he had lost his mind. He then started collecting exotic animals as a hobby. As a state, we should have more strict laws about owning these exotic and dangerous animals. These animals are, after all, very dangerous and capable of killing humans. I heard that the police tried to use tranquilizers on the animals but they were too feral and aggressive for it to work. At this point, the only logical thing to do is neutralize the threat, which is what the police did.
ReplyDeleteEven though it was a shame that so many animals had to die because of one lunatic’s odd hobby, it was the only rational and realistic thing to do. Anyone who says we should not have killed the animals should think about if their family or loved ones had been in the area during the outbreak. These animals could have seriously injured or killed countless people had they been free to roam for longer. Getting to the bottom of it all, we need to pass more strict laws about owning animals like these. They should not be allowed to be sold to any average joe. It is dangerous and something like this could have been prevented if laws like these were in place.
Even though I feel bad for the animals that got killed just because of some guy's personal problems, I think that the police did the right thing by killing them. These animal could have really hurt people because even though they were trained, they were not tamed. They are still wild animals that shouldn't have been treated like they were. I think that there should be stricter laws with being able to own these animals because people have to be treating them right, giving them enough room to roam around, and not be letting them loose! I have a friend that owns real, exotic wolves and they have so many rules they have to follow including having security cameras every few feet of fenced area that is provided, several acres for the wolves to roam, and even special permits that have to be approved by the state of Ohio. The wolves are constantly watched on the cameras and they even have to have someone from the exotic animal company come out and routinely inspect the wolves and the area they are kept in.
ReplyDeleteThe man that had all of those wild animals should have been watched and the animals should have been treated better or taken away from him. I wish that the tranquilizers would have worked better because I'm sure the Columbus Zoo would have loved to have these animals and provide for them correctly.
This was a terrible incident that put both people and animals in harms way. I believe the authorities did the right thing by shooting the animals to protect the people around that area. It’s hard to think about all those animals that had to be put down but it’s even worse to think about all the people that could have been injured or even killed. I think Ohio will learn from this incident and create more laws on owning exotic animals. It’s a shame it took over 50 animals’ lives for Ohio to act on this subject. I hope this is a learning experience for owners of exotic animals and for authorities if they ever have to deal with this type of occurrence again.
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ReplyDeleteIt is very frightening news. Imagining the scene that you are walking along the street and suddenly find that some hungry wild animals like lions, bears, and wolves are running towards you scares me. From my perspective, the safety of the public is foremost. The public can and should shot those animals. Meanwhile, more experts should make effort to searching for and saving these animals as their life is also valuable. They also should be protected and respected. Neither the public nor the animals is responsible for the incident. Neither of them should pay for it. It is the zoo should toe the scratch.
ReplyDeleteThis news is most definitely a tragic blow to the animal kingdom. As a proponent of preserving wildlife and diversity in our community, I believe that such actions, though justified, were the effects of rushed, callous thinking. Though the officers who initially went to search the farm may not have been armed with the proper gear to deal with the animals humanely, I see no reason for the more prepared policemen to arm themselves with tranquilizers. Many of the species that died in this incident are on the endangered list and such callous murder is simply propagating their road to extinction. I understand that many reasons for putting the animals down was because of physical or viral threats they may pose, but not all the animals were said to carry diseases. In fact, animals don’t naturally display aggressive behavior unless provoked or threatened in some way. Though an alarmed civilian may not have intentions of harming the animals, the animals, not realizing the other party’s equal fear, may charge at them to protect itself. The main point that truly irritates me is why such a mental person was given the license and responsibility to care for such amazing creatures. Were there no signs of madness in Terry Thompson prior to this event? I am sure such an act is not abrupt and had to accumulate from something else. As Spiderman was once told, “with great power comes great responsibility.” The misuse and misguidance of such power is the reason that innocent animals were sacrificed in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly what kind of efforts were put forth to protecting the animals, but I would say that they probably could have done a better job. It sounds like they didn't have that many animal experts on scene and just decided to tell officers to shoot them. I also think that the officers should have been told to keep the animals contained and away from human life...rather than shoot them on first sight. I think that they should have at least given the animals a chance to be tame before killing them.
ReplyDeleteHowever, regardless of the efforts of the zoo-keepers and such, I feel like a human life should be protected more than an animal's life. If the animal poses a serious threat to a family, the animal needs to be taken care of. It's ridiculous to say that a grizzly bear should not be shot dead if he is terrorizes a family.
I heard this news and saw a picture, and I was shocked by this guy's crazy behavior, but I am slao upset that these animals are shot for this reason, because these wild animals are innocent. I think people should make more rules or laws to protect animals, although they may attack people and we have to do shoot them in order to protect people in this siuation, we still can take some actions before it happens.
ReplyDeleteI really think it is cruel to shoot the animals, but seems like we don't have other choices to keep the people around there safe. I think the state should create some laws for keeping the exotic animals as own. The numbers of animals can be kept should ruled. And there should be some more animal experts to support the private zoo. Keeping so many exotic animals can cause potential dangerous to neighbors also.
ReplyDeleteThis is the saddest thing I have heard in the news in a long time. The fact that the man even had these animals in the first place is terrible. Including the events of the story, and I am confident that he was in serious need of psychological help.
ReplyDeleteThere was no right thing to do in this situation, because the right thing to do would have been to avoid the situation in the first place in any number of ways. Not owning over fifty exotic animals would have been a good place to start. Regardless, the sheriff's department did the only thing they could with what they had. Given the situation, things went about as well as they could. It breaks my heart to say that.
I'm glad at least a few of the animals were able to be rescued. It's just too bad that some people feel they have to have everything.
I believe that the Sheriff of Zanesville did the right thing. It is hard to say what a better solution would have been other than to have regulations on people owning the animals in the first place. It is sad that the animals had to be killed, but on the other hand if they were not, the safety of the people of Zanesville could not have been insured.
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