(Image Source: ExoticPetsSale.org)
BY RICHARD LAYCOCK
ANCHOR LAUREN GORES
Lions, tigers, bears and wolves on the loose -- in Ohio?
Authorities are on shoot-to-kill orders, if necessary, after a farm owner is found dead.
Several animals had been seen roaming along the interstate near Zanesville.
The Guardian has an interview with Muskingum County sheriff, Matt Lutz.
“Mainly there were grizzly bears and black bears there. There were cheetahs, there were lions and there were tigers. Those were the primary things that we would be concerned with. Any kind of a cat species and kind of a bear species right now is mainly what we are concerned about.”
Most of the 48 escaped animals have been shot and killed. Animal rights activists, have been quick to condemn this. But in an interview with CNN even Jack Hanna is defending the officer’s actions.
“We're trying our best to make sure no one is hurt doing this. The animals, the question is, why didn't they tranquilize last night? You can't tranquilize at night. It upsets them. Its like if you got popped with a shot. They settle in, hunker down, go to sleep. We can't find them in the dark. What had to be done had to be done. Even a bair came after one of the officers last night after he was just trying to get out of a car”
This is not the first incident on the Ohio farm-- reports WSYX. The station’s reporters talked with the now deceased Terry Thompson’s neighbors who cited similar instances.
“Everyone around here knows he has animals up there. You knew for a fact … two [or] three years ago a lion got loose.”
“I have seen giraffes running around in the field.”
Thompson has had issues with authorities before, according to WCMH. The station’s reporters spoke with Sherriff Lutz who says in 2010...
“...Thompson pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of illegal firearms, including five fully automatic firearms and three short-barrelled firearms without serial numbers.”
Some media outlets, WBNS, wonder whether Thompson had the correct permits for the animals. Others, including Hanna, are pushing for a law to prevent these situations.
“We are now going to get with the governor and hopefully get these laws in where people can’t go out and just buy these animals without the proper permitting.”
Zanesville Mayor Howard Zwelling spoke with KDKA and said that Thompson is believed to have let the animals out of the cages before taking his own life. So far-- no humans have been hurt.
