Sad End For Zanesville’s Wild Animals *GRAPHIC PIC*

[occupyeverywhere]

http://thedailywh.at/2011/10/19/follow-up-of-the-day-sad-end-for-zanesvilles-wild-animals/

Follow Up of the Day: This is the heartbreaking denouement of the wildlife chase that took place near Zanesville, Ohio today: 49 dead animals.

Of the 56 animals released from their pens at the 73-acre Muskingum County Animal Farm, only six were rescued: a grizzly bear, three leopards, and two macaques.

The rest — six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, 18 tigers, and two wolves — were shot and killed by local authorities.

[ixion]

1. Yeah, because it's just too darned much work to actually capture them...

idiots. :argh:

[pintobean]

2. Please tell us how that could have happened.

Was there a plan for that? Were the qualified people and the proper equipment ready to deploy?
LEOs did their jobs. They protected the public.

[PeaceNikki]

3. That's an incredibly ignorant statement.

[ixion]

14. in your opinion

which is fine. You don't have to share my opinion.

[DrDan]

7. they did try tranquilizers, did they not?

they have a population to protect.

Let's put the blame where it belongs - on this cretin who felt he needed a private zoo. 18 Bengal Tigers. That is the tragedy. That idiots like this are allowed to possess these animals.

[ixion]

13. tranquilizers have worked in the past

why wouldn't they have worked in this case?

[DrDan]

63. I have no idea - I believe they tried them and they did not work for some reason

The Post reported one incident where local veternarian Barb Wolfe of local wildlife refuge The Wilds tried to take down a tiger with a tranquilizer dart. Quickly, Wolfe and the assembled law enforcement realized the situation was unsafe and uncontrollable.

"I was about 15 feet from him and took a shot, and it didn't respond too much, and I thought we were OK, but within about 10 seconds he roared and started toward me," she said to The Post.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/234984/20111020/exotic-animals-jack-hanna-matt-lutz-zanesville.htm

[Cirque du So-What]

8. How did you get to know more than Jack Hanna, the Humane Society and PETA combined?

What - in this area of expertise - gives you license to go on about 'idiots,' when those who, you know, possess long years of actually having worked with animals, are saying there was no other recourse?

It's not enough that these poor animals are dead, but you direct your ire toward people (police, animal control) who had no other options? Got any residual anger for stupid laws (or lack thereof) that turn a blind eye toward the trade and possession of exotic animals? That's where the anger rightfully belongs - not against people charged with protecting the public.

I can't stop people from believing what they want about this situation, but it will come at a price: facing the fact that not one person with actual experience with these animals or those who have made a profession out of acting as an advocate for animals' rights has spoken out against the actions taken by those responsible for public safety. It's a supposedly free country, however, and you know what they say about opinions, but mine are backed up by people speaking from years of experience - not overwrought reactions spoken without any basis in fact.

[ixion]

12. by spending more time with animals, apparently

because it was possible to trap them, they just didn't want to allocate the time and resources towards doing that.

I'm sure there was more than one 'safari' joke during the slaughter.

[pintobean]

15. How many lions, tigers and bears have you captured?

Your being sure about safari jokes is insulting. Those people will have to carry their actions with them for the rest of their lives. Actions forced by a mad man.

[Lorien]

39. Ha! Those cops will be boasting about their kills for decades to come

I know that area well; it's chock full of rednecks who love shooting whatever they can; the kind who pay for "canned hunts"; they'll be crowing about this for the rest of their lives.

[dionysus]

20. trap them? you can't have 18 tigers wandering around near inhabited areas, waiting for them to be

trapped! are you serious?

[Codeine]

33. It's the same logic that demands police officers shoot the guns

out of criminals' hands. People get their information from movies and Hallmark cards.

[pintobean]

36. Made me laugh

:thumbsup:

[ixion]

46. You ought not to make generalizations about people you know nothing about.

it makes you look, well, you know.

[pintobean]

48. Like this

"I'm sure there was more than one 'safari' joke during the slaughter."
Yeah, "you look, well, you know."

[Cirque du So-What]

60. Oh snap!

[Codeine]

51. Makes me look awesome, you mean.

You can say it.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dionysus]

18. before you spout off, it's a good idea to know what the hell you're talking about.

[ixion]

21. lol... coming from you, who spouts off about everything

that means nothing at all.

[justiceischeap]

23. I'm no zoologist nor am I a vet but don't you have to know the weight

of animal to effectively tranquilize them? Otherwise, you could shoot a CARNIVOROUS animal with a dart, piss it off and then have it not go to sleep. Then the animal eats the person and has to be put down anyway.

[ixion]

47. not precisely, in a given range

which can be estimated.

[jmowreader]

58. Kestrel sent up a post about this yesterday...

Apparently the drug they use is dangerous beyond belief (the package insert for it requires you have the antidote out and ready before you ever get near the drug because skin contact with it can kill a human) and there's no tolerance for error--use a hair too much and the animal dies, a hair too little and the animal gets pissed off and eats whoever shot the dart at it.

[Bake]

62. That stuff doesn't put them to sleep immediately ...

This was a tragedy, but I don't see there was any other choice. The real culprit is the idiot who kept them in pens and then turned them loose.

You want to blame somebody, blame that fool.

Bake

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Actually yes, yes it is

And sherrif's deputies are NOT qualified to use the propper drugs.

I don't like it, but it is not as easy as you think. And what happens if any human got mauled in the process. Not like you dart and they fall asleep immediately.

[pintobean]

49. +1

[Codeine]

31. Oh good grief. nt

[REP]

35. Starving, frightened, abused animals aren't easy to capture safely

I wish there'd been a different outcome, too. I wish they'd never been on that property, abused and starved.

[Lorien]

42. That's what tranquilizer guns are for

and the Columbus Zoo has an arsenal of them.

[Codeine]

53. Yeah, and a vet used one on a tiger.

Got up close, shot it, and it didn't take properly. The tiger tried to kill her. It had to be killed for the safety of everyone.

[REP]

61. They tried

[Lorien]

41. They didn't want the experts from animal control or the Columbus Zoo

with tranquilizer guns getting in the way of their "big game hunt". Anyone who knows that part of Ohio knows how backwards the cops in that area are; as bad as the guy who owned the animals, only they would happily sign up for a "canned hunt". The Authoritarians here will OF COURSE defend them. Badges give them a hard on. :grr:

[ixion]

43. exactly.

[Codeine]

55. Actually, here's the word of a DUer who is a vet.

She explains with actual facts why people need to stop this nonsense of smearing the people who protected the locals from these animals.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2147499

[jmowreader]

59. "Experts from Animal Control"?

They're experts in dealing with the animals usually encountered. The most violent animal they're likely to come across is a bobcat or a coyote.

There is a hell of a difference between a 25-pound bobcat and a 600-pound tiger.

As for the zoo...call them up and tell them you've got fifty starving apex predators running around loose, and they're going to bring a howitzer rather than a dart gun.

[a la izquierda]

4. Would you mind putting a warning on your OP line...

some of us can't stomach this. There's a reason I don't eat meat.

[occupyeverywhere]

5. There you go

Sorry

[Ron Green]

6. It's all the result of one idiot's membership in the cult of

American Machismo. This was one of those guys with all the toys, a self-styled knight errant, who in the end was anti-social even in his suicide. My uninformed guess is that he was right-wing sort of voter as well.

[occupyeverywhere]

9. Heard on the radio about his last request

to have the animals buried on his property. I say screw that guy, I think he knew his last act would result in mayhem, he condemned those poor animals.

[Blue_Tires]

30. I thought the papers said he left no suicide note??

[occupyeverywhere]

56. Don't know

A radio program was discussing his last requests this morning.

[librechik]

26. he was a multiple felon, doubt if he voted

altho in a way being a (gun toting)felon is a kind of a vote in itself.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. It's just heart breaking and sickening. Such a tragic loss to the whole world.

[hifiguy]

11. The core problem is that the jackass who "owned" all these

animals was able to do so legally. No one should be allowed to keep dangerous wild animals in captivity outside of a proper zoo. They belong in the wild.

[uppityperson]

17. +10000

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. .

:cry:

[bullwinkle428]

19. Fuck the miserable bastard that's responsible for this mess. I hope

he suffers for all eternity for his despicably selfish behavior.

An additional "fuck you" to the lawmakers that always believed this kind of thing shouldn't be "troubled" by regulations of any kind.

[kentuck]

22. That is terribly sad...

Was there no other way??

[Tatiana]

24. So tragic. If anything, this highlights why we have laws and statutes governing this sort of thing.

I bet Strickland isn't looking so bad now.

I hope he is considering another run to re-capture his governorship. He would almost certainly win.

[Abin Sur]

25. The weeping and wailing on this subject is a bit over the top.

While the death of these animals is a waste, a bit of perspective is in order. In the United States alone, millions of cows, pigs, chickens, etc. are killed and eaten, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of deer, elk, bears, etc. that are hunted every year.

Mind you, I don't have the slightest problem with that...I like the leather seats in my Jeep and a nice t-bone steak as much as anyone...and venison is yummy!

And while tigers are rare in the wild (only 3 to 5 thousand worldwide), there are over 5,000 in the United States alone in zoos, private hands, etc., so it's not as if the death of 18 tigers is going to have any impact on the species as a whole. The same applies to the other animals that were killed.

Sad? Sure, that's a fair characterization. A "tragic loss to the whole world"? Give me a break.

[Lorien]

45. "As much as anyone"?

Fuck that. I'm a vegan and don't own leather products. Speak for yourself; if compassion ain't your thing, just admit it and walk on.

[Abin Sur]

50. Yes, "as much as anyone".

The fact that I enjoy leather and meat as much or more as anyone else doesn't mean that some other person can't enjoy them less.

Fuck that.

Don't hold back, tell us what you really think.

I'm a vegan and don't own leather products.

Good for you! Isn't choice grand?

Speak for yourself;

That's exactly what I've been doing...

if compassion ain't your thing, just admit it

If you like. I freely admit that I'm not feeling a great amount of compassion beyond "Awww..." and "Bummer" over the death of these particular animals. Now what?

and walk on.

Why? I'm having fun. Aren't you?

[AtomicKitten]

28. RIP beautiful creatures. You deserved a better life.

:cry:

[ellie]

29. That is absolutely disgusting.

[Codeine]

32. And a shitload more animals were killed for burgers and nuggets. nt

[Abin Sur]

37. I would certainly hope so.

I really like burgers, after all.

[Glassunion]

52. you forgot...

with BACON!!!

[Abin Sur]

54. Homer has it right, as usual.

[Gregorian]

38. I was getting ready to post a big mac. 42 million are killed each year.

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/cows.aspx

But they aren't orange and stripey, so no one cries for them.

[Abin Sur]

44. I don't think too many people are crying for these tigers, either.

Granted, upon hearing this story most people will think, "Gee...that's sad". They'll then wonder what else is on tv.

It's simply not that big a deal to the vast majority of people.

[REP]

34. So some were rescued. Slightly better outcome than originally reported

I understand that starving, abused, frightened animals couldn't all be captured, but I'm glad at least some were. I hope the others died quickly at least, poor things.

[fishwax]

57. Damn, that is tragic

Ugh.