Could the Exotic Animals Have Been Saved in Zanesville?
After seeing on TV and reading countless articles about what happened in Zanesville, Ohio I was physically sick to find out so many of the escaped animals were gunned down and killed. These were innocent animals who had not done anything to deserve this, had not killed anyone and should have been saved and sent to Zoo's or Sanctuaries run by people who know what they are doing.
Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz could have waited a few moments to figure out other ways of subduing the animals instead of panicking and giving the order to murder most all of the animals that were escaping. The fact that Jack Hanna was so quick to defend the murderous actions of the Sheriff does not in my mind make what the Sheriff did right or justified.
Too many times the actions taken by police when gunning down native wildlife like black bears and wolves when they get too close to humans is over looked by everyone when in fact there are alternatives to killing the animal and forgetting about them.
There seems to be no review of their actions when something like this is done, who will oversee the sheriff and make sure he did everything possible for the animals and the people in that area? Who will review his actions and make him accountable for his decision? If it's found out that tranquilizers could have been used or some other action could have been taken and wasn't, he should lose his job.
Terry Thompson did not take care of the animals he had and should never have had them in the first place. The laws in this state as well as others needs to be changed so that things like this don't happen again. Thompson spent a year in prison and had several run ins with the law. Thompson killed himself after leaving the cage doors and fences open on his property. He had to know the animals would not survive either in the wild or if they escaped and were hunted down. These animals lived in cages and were not equipped to care for themselves in the wild.
The thing that needs to be learned form this horrible tragedy is that wild animals do not belong with regular citizens no matter how much they love animals. The laws need to be changed and it needs to be done soon before something like this happens again.
Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz could have waited a few moments to figure out other ways of subduing the animals instead of panicking and giving the order to murder most all of the animals that were escaping. The fact that Jack Hanna was so quick to defend the murderous actions of the Sheriff does not in my mind make what the Sheriff did right or justified.
Too many times the actions taken by police when gunning down native wildlife like black bears and wolves when they get too close to humans is over looked by everyone when in fact there are alternatives to killing the animal and forgetting about them.
There seems to be no review of their actions when something like this is done, who will oversee the sheriff and make sure he did everything possible for the animals and the people in that area? Who will review his actions and make him accountable for his decision? If it's found out that tranquilizers could have been used or some other action could have been taken and wasn't, he should lose his job.
Terry Thompson did not take care of the animals he had and should never have had them in the first place. The laws in this state as well as others needs to be changed so that things like this don't happen again. Thompson spent a year in prison and had several run ins with the law. Thompson killed himself after leaving the cage doors and fences open on his property. He had to know the animals would not survive either in the wild or if they escaped and were hunted down. These animals lived in cages and were not equipped to care for themselves in the wild.
The thing that needs to be learned form this horrible tragedy is that wild animals do not belong with regular citizens no matter how much they love animals. The laws need to be changed and it needs to be done soon before something like this happens again.
Published by Mary Kirkland
Mary is originally from Redondo Beach, California and now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and daughter. Mary has had extensive experience with small animal care as well as rescuing and re-homing.... View profile
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4 Comments
Post a CommentVery, very well written, and I so agree with you!
You know I am sick of everyone downing Ohio about their laws! I am sick of laws! We CANNOT protect everyone all the time from everything no matter how hard we try or how many laws we make up! Lutz is a PUTZ and sent his cops on a big game slaughter! He is 30 minutes from THe Wilds, one of the largest animal preserves in North America! The call came in at 5 pm! Plenty of time to come up with a plan before dark AND he knew about this guy and his farm - why didn't he have an emergency plan and the proper tools in place in case something happened if he is soooo worried about his community. And guess what? We live in an area where there are loads of dangerous animals around and I gotta tell you, some of my neighbors dogs scare me more than a declawed raised as a pet from a baby African Lion! It was murder and he should be fired.
PETA is actually busy setting up their porn site and urging the producers of "We Bought A Zoo" to put a warning on their movie about owning exotic animals. They don't do anything low-profile anymore, even if it will do the most good to the greatest number of animals.
I am disgusted by the death of these animals, but I place all the blame on their owner. He's the man who set them free, knowing what would happen to them. Tranquilzers were unrealistic given the large amount of animals, the oncoming nightfall, and the lack of trainer personel to use them. Unfortunately, the police officer's job is to protect the public, and that's what they did. So many wild animals loose, and not one human fatality is actually very, very lucky.
If the laws in Ohio were different in the first place then yes. If not then no. Why? Because the cops couldn't wait until someone who knows how to tranq wild animals could arrive and help out. You can't just take a shot in the dark and hope that you gave the animal the right amount. If you give them too much they're dead anyways and if you don't give them enough all you've done is make an already deadly animal more deadly.I mourn for the loss of these animals because Ohio's laws are ridiculous and NO PRIVATE PERSON should own wild animals and they definitely shouldn't own several. Especially with his history. But, the cops had to protect the humans and their children in the area.Ohio had better get their laws changed though ... this is when PETA should step up but I haven't heard a #$%$ peep out of those morons. They should be in Ohio raising HELL until Ohio's laws get changed.