Police: 3 exotic animals still loose in Ohio

ZANESVILLE, Ohio - Townspeople cowered indoors Wednesday as deputies with high-powered rifles hunted down and killed lions, bears and dozens of other exotic beasts that escaped from a wild-animal preserve after the owner threw their cages open and committed suicide.

After an all-night hunt, at least 30 of the 48 escaped animals had been gunned down. As of mid-morning, officers were still hunting for a grizzly bear, mountain lion and monkey.

Schools closed, parents were warned to keep children and pets indoors and flashing signs along highways told motorists, "Caution exotic animals" and "Stay in vehicle."

Exotic animal farm owner had history of trouble

"It's like Noah's ark, like, wrecking right here in Zanesville, Ohio," said Jack Hanna, former director of the Columbus Zoo. "Noah's ark filled with tigers and lions and all leopards and a few monkeys and whatever, and it crashes here and all of a sudden they're out there."

Neighbor Danielle White, whose father's property abuts the Muskingum County Animal Farm, said she didn't see loose animals this time but did in 2006, when a lion escaped.

"It's always been a fear of mine knowing (the owner) had all those animals," she said. "I have kids. I've heard a male lion roar all night."

White said Terry Thompson, the owner of the preserve, had been in legal trouble, and police said he had gotten out of jail recently.

"He was in hot water because of the animals, because of permits, and (the animals) escaping all the time," White said. A few weeks ago, she said, she had to avoid some camels which were grazing on the side of a freeway.

At left: A dead lion lays by the fence on Terry Thompson's farm near Zanesville Ohio, Oct. 18, 2011.

Officers in the mostly rural area about 55 miles east of Columbus were under orders to shoot to kill for fear that animals hit with tranquilizer darts would run off and hide in the darkness.

Thompson left the cages open and the fences unsecured, releasing dozens of animals, including lions, tigers, bears and wolves, before committing suicide, said Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz.

Authorities would not say how he killed himself and no suicide note was found. Lutz wouldn't speculate on why he committed suicide. But Thompson had had repeated run-ins with the law, and Lutz said the sheriff's office had received numerous complaints since 2004 about animals at the property.

"This is a bad situation," the sheriff said. "It's been a situation for a long time."

Hanna said that of the three animals believed to be unaccounted for, he was most concerned about the mountain lion, because of its impressive leaping ability. He said anyone confronting these animals should not run, because they will give chase.

Hanna defended the sheriff against criticism that the animals should have been captured alive.

"What was he to do at nighttime with tigers and lions, leopards, going out there?" Hanna said. "In the wild this would be a different situation."

The preserve in Zanesville had lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, giraffes, camels and bears. Lutz called the animals "mature, very big, aggressive" but said a caretaker told authorities they had been fed on Monday.

Ohio has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them. In 2010, an animal caretaker was killed by a bear at a property in Cleveland.

On Wednesday, the Humane Society of the United States criticized Gov. John Kasich for allowing a statewide ban on the buying and selling of exotic pets to expire in April. The organization urged the state to immediately issue emergency restrictions.

"How many incidents must we catalog before the state takes action to crack down on private ownership of dangerous exotic animals?" Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO, said in a statement.

[ampsanne]

I'm sorry that they shot these animals. But when human life is involved that should come first. In order to sedate an animal you would have to know it's weight. I worked for a small animal vet, and whenever we had to sedate an animal the dosage went by it's weight. Sometimes it would not always put the animal out, so you would have to give an additional dose. My first thoughts were if they could shoot the animal they were in range of using a tranquilizer gun. But as someone stated it doesn't always work, so that is true. So rather than to take any chances they had to kill them. I know I felt bad for the animals, but when it comes to saving a human life, it had to be done. But I still wonder why The Wilds in Cumberland which is 20 miles from Zanesville weren't called in because they are probably more experienced than the average Joe in catching them. They are the largest exotic preserve in the world.

[northernbucks]

All who are critizing those deputies need to really stop and think about this. No one ever could have anticipated what happened. Intentionally openning the cages of 48 wild and dangerous animals. REALLY????? It's beyoned nuts. If you cannot imagine doing this, why would you expect that it would be feasible to have the plan to tranquilize all 48 animals simultaneously? At night. In the middle of a storm. 48 at one time. And remember, that tranquilizing medicines do not take effect immediately. I am a HUGE animal lover, I have been all my life. I am sick about this loss of life. This is a tragedy of the worst kind. But DO NOT villainize the law enforcement whose number one priority is to protect human life. The blame lies VERY clearly with 1) the state of Ohio whose laws permitted this to happen and 2) the individual who owned the animals and sent them to their death.

[crowwecall01]

What gives them the right to make the decision on these animals faith? All the animals were MURDERED! They should of used tranquilizers and transported all the animals to various zoos around the country. Did anyone get hurt by any of the animals? Did the animals act in a violent way? NO and NO.. They were just slain because the Ohio Cops were scared.

David Cottrell

[Forty-Four]

No, and YES. One was attempted to be tranqed, and it had no effect. I refer you to the comments I have made below.

[lindajane99]

The incompetence of Ohio authorities in slaughtering these animals is truly sickening.

[Forty-Four]

I refer you to my comments below

[loosecheetah]

quick. lure the animals into one of our local bars and someone there can shoot it. Don't worry, he won't have been drinking. See, Ohioans having the most lax laws on owning wild animals SEEMS like like a good idea, keeping that pesky gov't out of your constitutional rights, but all it takes is one exotic animal farm escape....maybe we should let teachers and school kids carry guns to school so they don't have to take the day off when stuff like this happens.

[vielmann]

Typical GOP controlled state. Has the worst laws against keeping exotic animals, even lets the one law they did have expire. Shame about the animals. I do hope for Karma for the governor.

[bpb58]

why are they having to be killed???

[addict42]

Jack Hanna like the gov of Ohio, John Kasich, is a moron. Those animals could have been tranquilized and did NOT have to be killed. Ohio is going to hell thanks to Kasich and the rest of the GOPers in the statehouse. To bad the animals weren't unleashed there in Columbus.

[MyKinKStar]

You are seriously ill-informed.

[Forty-Four]

Ohio is going to hell, but it isn't because of this. It is because of Ohio State University.

Anyway, I refer you to one of my many comments below as to why they could not be tranquilized.

[hotmomma19]

To all of you who say that the professionals like Jack Hanna are lying because they said it is unsafe to tranquilize an animal at night....Do you know the first this about a Wild animal other than what it looks like? Im sure the experts that work with animals know much more than yall do. It's sad they died, but they didn't shoot all of them, which should lead us to believe they didn't do it just for "bragging rights"
Stop being so judgmental, especially when you're just speculating.

[hotmomma19]

Also, its not like you can say "here wolfy wolfy don't eat the kids" The man that failed to take care of his animals is at blame. Surley he knew what would happen.

[MyKinKStar]

Yes, that's all true. Tranquilizing any animal doesn't put them down instantly like in the movies. many of them get aggressive and more dangerous, or they could run and hide. It was dark, so the cops did what they had to do, to protect the public. It's sad, but if people really cared as much as they like to seem in times of emergencies like this, then they would Do Something besides dog on the officials. Vote to change the laws, so just anyone with money can't buy a wild animal, regardless of their ability to house it safely or feed it properly in it's lifetime.

[JessonMiller]

I find it repulsive that law enforcement felt the need to kill these animals. They didn't know what was happening and were probably scared Sh*tl@5s. I hope everyone involved in the killing of these animals has EXTREMELY poor luck for the rest of their lives! Karma is a *****

[Forty-Four]

You want to know the risks or tranqs?
What if you miss?
What if you don't have the right dosage? Too much and you kill the animal anyway, too little and now the animal is mad.
No tranq works immediately anyway
No tranq is guaranteed to work.
There is not enough time, when these wild animals are wandering around humans to ensure that they have the right dosage and proper shot. There is just too much risk. They have made the right call, however unfortunate it may be.

[hotmomma19]

Fourty-Four and EmpireGeorge Thumbs up!