Stupid Humans

[or_mabinogi]

So, a couple hours away from me, down in Zanesville, Ohio, a private zoo has gone... public. Yesterday evening the owner of the zoo was found dead and many of the cages were left open. Some reports I'm reading are saying that police have not released how he died while others speculate he killed himself

Comments

[aelfgyfu_mead]

No! No! How can that be possible? I heard a fragment of this story on the radio this morning but missed some key details--and thought it must be in another country.

[or_mabinogi]

Rural Ohio can often be mistaken for another country. It all makes me sad and angry at the same time.

[sg_wonderland]

There is no consistent federal law governing keeping 'exotic' animals and maybe this is something we should look at. Florida, for example, has one of the worst laws and there are gators in places they shouldn't be. I live in Kentucky and a friend of my sister's grew up in a neighborhood that had a fenced-in lion. Yes, a lion! She said she was always petrified that the lion was going to get loose and do what comes naturally.

After the New Jersey(?) chimp attack that nearly killed a woman, there was a great uproar but unfortunately, that died down. Animal experts have tried to educate the public and have said time and again THAT YOU CAN NEVER REMOVE THE NATURAL HUNTER INSTINCTS OUT OF THESE ANIMALS. And why are we arrogant enough to think we have the right to try?

[or_mabinogi]

Exactly this.

As kids when we visited our grandmother in Florida, she would take us to a friend's farm in Miaca where they had peacocks and alligators. I don't think they were purposely keeping them. Well, not the gators anyway. My parents have a photo of my sister at age 5 or so walking up to a resting gator.

[sg_wonderland]

Watching some of these animal rescue shows makes me want to keep my doors locked at all times!

I was at a training once and a social worker was telling a story about a couple with a toddler who actually lost custody because they could not be convinced that allowing a boa constrictor to roam freely around their home endangered their child.

[lunachickk]

OMG, I just read about this and I'm so fucking pissed off!

[or_mabinogi]

It's times like this that make me not want to live on this planet anymore.

[or_mabinogi]

I think the situation was that they were faced with 56 dangerous wild animals roaming the countryside and a deputy force without the means or training to handle them. I mean, why should a rural Ohio law enforcement officer be trained to capture a Bengal tiger? As sad as it is, I can't really fault the way they were forced to handle it. But I can fault the lack of regulation that allowed such a private menagerie to begin with.

[or_mabinogi]

I'm sure there were some tranquilizers available, but there was a lack of anyone trained to use them on a wide variety of exotic creatures. I read this morning that all animals were accounted for: a grizzly bear, 3 leopards, and 2 monkeys were captured safely and taken to the Columbus Zoo; the other 49 animals were unfortunately killed.