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The tragic shooting of the poor animals that escaped from this so called zoo (prison) in Zanesville, Ohio, is another example why exotic or any wild animals should not be kept as pets or forced to live in captivity. This shooting also underscores the trigger happy stance of too many police officers in this country today, but this time it was toward poor, helpless animals. Tranquilizers should have been used and if not effective, shoot to disable rather than kill. It was the animals' their fault they were forced to live in cages but only wanted their freedom when the doors were opened. And because they were forced to live this way by one selfish and irresponsible individual they had to sacrifice their lives for his vanity.
I bet these officers enjoyed every moment of it, acting as if they were on a big time hunting safari somewhere in Africa, how sadistic and perverted!
Worse still the sheriff knew of these deplorable conditions and did nothing about it. Charges should be filed against this cold hearted individual for failure to take action that could have prevented this tragedy from happening in the first place. He is as much to blame as the owner.
If such sad instances are to be avoided in the future it is imperative that tough laws be passed throughout the entire nation forbidding any one from keeping or raising a wild or exotic animal except those operating animal sanctuaries or refuges dedicated toward providing homes for these animals when rescued from such irresponsible owners.
Fortunately there is legislation now before Congress that can correct this situation. S. 324, Captive Primate Safety Act is now being considered in the U. S. Senate and I urge all who oppose keeping exotic and wild animals in captivity to contact their two U. S. senators.
People that get these animals might think they are nice to keep as pets or exhibits but if they say they love the animals they keep they need to know what their term of love means. If you love someone or even an animal, you don't force it to be confined to a home or pen against its will. Just put your self in the animal's position. Would you want to spend your life living in a cage or pen? Of course not!
It is poor selfishness and vanity on the part of those who wish to keep these animals. Don't be tempted to buy or get them even when they appear cuddly and cute as babies. Remember they will not remain that way but become adult, large, moody, angry and even dangerous.
If you deplore what happened in Zanesville, please, please, please push for tough laws even in your locality, county or state to outlaw the keeping or raising exotic animals. These animals belong in the wild to live the life they were intended to live as they desire. You are not doing them a favor by yanking them out of their natural environment and forcing them to live lives contrary to their will. If you truly love them you will respect their wishes as to where they would like to be.
Jack Hanna on Zanesville, Ohio, Animals: ‘We Would Have Had Carnage’
Quote:
“I’ve been out all over the world tranquilizing animals,” he said. “Can you imagine trying to tranquilize an animal in the dark. Fine, we have a spotlight. We hit it. You don’t know exactly: Did you hit a muscle? Did you hit a bone? If you hit the bone, the plunger might not work and put the medicine in. So what do we do? Then we send a veterinarian or the sheriff up there to see if the animal is down, right? What’s gonna happen if the animal is just sitting there not even asleep? You’re dead.”
The OP also failed to mention the person committed suicide right after he let all the animals go free and that this was a huge animal farm, the creatures were not locked up in little bitty cages...
A guy opened the cages and let them all loose in revenge.
Lions,tigers,bears and leopards running loose in the community.
Then he committed suicide.
The police did what they had to in order to protect the people.
As I understand, they only shot the ones that were of immediate danger to humans and tranquilized the remaining animals. In addition, they were trying to find these animals at night. Tranquilization takes time to take effect and the risk to the human population was the first and most important factor.
Authorities were trying to use tranquilizers whenever possible in capturing the animals, said Zanesville Mayor Howard Zwelling. But Lutz said some animals were shot at close range by deputies who found themselves in a dangerous situation. A Bengal tiger was put down after it became agitated following a tranquilizer shot.
A guy opened the cages and let them all loose in revenge.
Lions,tigers,bears and leopards running loose in the community.
Then he committed suicide.
The police did what they had to in order to protect the people.
People who live in Miami-Dade and Broward counties FL have been releasing exotic pets into the Everglades for decades. They buy a 2' pithon and when it gets too big, it's released. It has become a huge seroius problem. They grow from the 2' to 20' in short time, multiply like rabbits and are destroying the habitat of the native animals and birds. The eco system is changing rapidly. For each one that is caught, there are a dozen to take its place.
I support a law that would prohibit importation or breeding of non native exotic animals. There is no reason why a person should have a lion as a pet.
Jack Hanna on Zanesville, Ohio, Animals: ‘We Would Have Had Carnage’
The OP also failed to mention the person committed suicide right after he let all the animals go free and that this was a huge animal farm, the creatures were not locked up in little bitty cages...
A guy opened the cages and let them all loose in revenge.
Lions,tigers,bears and leopards running loose in the community.
Then he committed suicide.
The police did what they had to in order to protect the people.
One could kill the animals. Which is an effective solution. Or one could have gotten the people out of harms way and then trapped many. Who would likely have walked into a cage for a meal.
I have a little trouble with shooting tigers and lions and bears simply because they scare the population
May have been a good solution...but we will never know will we.
Imagine the logistics of getting people out of that town, with wild animals prowling about. Not an effective solution.
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