exotic animal farm

As a lot of people around Ohio and the US know, there was a major release of 50 some exotic animals by the owner of them, then he committed suicide. This took place in Muskingum county near Zanesville. The man who owned them has had troubles with the law in the past, and he has had animals escape numerous times since 2004.

Police and other law enforcement took action and killed 49 of the animals which included 17 lions, 18 tigers, 6 black bears, 2 grizzly bears, 3 mountain lions, 2 wolves, and a baboon. They had to act fast due to the fact of these animals being released at night, how dangerous they were, and how close to homes and schools they were. They did not have tranquilizers readily available, and could not risk darting an animal and it possibly attacking someone before it took effect (which was said to take up to 7 minutes to) or the animals escaping before it did.

There is a lot of people upset by the fact that they killed the animals. It is tragic they had to do so, but the number and type of animals involved posed a huge threat to people's lives. I wonder how these people would've felt if their child or loved one would have been killed. I am all for animals being treated fairly and humanely, but the number of such dangerous animals and the location did not allow them to waste any time.

If there is anyone to blame it is law officials such as the governor who did not do anything previously to enact a strong enough ban not allowing them, and letting the one ban that there was to expire. These animals have no place in a regular private citizens possession. The only 2 places they should be are in a zoo or where they come from.

This is not the only incident of something happening as a result of someone owning exotic animals. Just a couple years back there was the woman who was brutally attacked by a 200 pound chimpanzee, which resulted in her losing her sight permanently, her face literally being ripped off, and the loss of her hands.

I wish there could have been a more gentle way of capturing these animals, but given the circumstances there wasn't a whole lot of choice in the matter, it had to be done quick to protect people's lives who lived nearby.