All right, to start:
ZANESVILLE, Ohio ? Dozens of animals escaped from a wild-animal preserve that houses bears, big cats and other beasts, and the owner later was found dead there, said police, who shot several of the animals and urged nearby residents to stay indoors.
The fences had been left unsecured Tuesday at the Muskingum County Animal Farm in Zanesville, in east-central Ohio, and the animals' cages were open, police said. They wouldn't say what animals escaped but said the preserve had lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, giraffes, camels and bears. They said bears and wolves were among 25 escaped animals that had been shot and killed and there were multiple sightings of exotic animals along a nearby highway.
"These are wild animals that you would see on TV in Africa," Sheriff Matt Lutz warned at a press conference.
Neighbor Danielle White, whose father's property abuts the animal preserve, 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 preserve's owner) had all those animals," she said. "I have kids. I've heard a male lion roar all night."
Lutz called the escaped animals "mature, very big, aggressive" but said a caretaker told authorities the preserve's 48 animals had been fed on Monday. He said police were patrolling the 40-acre farm and the surrounding areas in cars, not on foot, and were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.
"This is a bad situation," Lutz said. "It's been a situation for a long time."
Lutz said his office started getting phone calls at about 5:30 p.m. that wild animals were loose just west of Zanesville on a road that runs under Interstate 70.
He said four deputies with assault rifles in a pickup truck went to the animal farm, where they found the owner, Terry Thompson, dead and all the animal cage doors open. He wouldn't say how Thompson died but said several aggressive animals were near his body when deputies arrived and had to be shot.
Thompson, who lived on the property, had orangutans and chimps in his home, but those were still in their cages, Lutz said.
The deputies, who saw many other animals standing outside their cages and others that had escaped past the fencing surrounding the property, began shooting them on sight. They said there had been no reports of injuries among the public.
Staffers from the Columbus Zoo went to the scene, hoping to tranquilize and capture the animals. The sheriff said caretakers might put food in the animals' open cages to try to lure them back.
Lutz said people should stay indoors and he might ask for local schools to close Wednesday. At least four school districts in the area canceled classes.
Lutz said his main concern was protecting the public in the rural area, where homes sit on large lots of sometimes 10 acres (four hectares).
"Any kind of cat species or bear species is what we are concerned about," Lutz said. "We don't know how much of a head start these animals have on us."
A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which usually handles native wildlife, such as deer, said state Division of Wildlife officers were helping the sheriff's office cope with the exotic animals in Zanesville, a city of about 25,000 residents.
"This is, I would say, unique," spokeswoman Laura Jones said.
White, the preserve's neighbor, said Thompson had been in legal trouble, and police said he had gotten out of jail recently.
At a nearby Moose Lodge, Bill Weiser remembered Thompson as an interesting character who flew planes, raced boats and owned a custom motorcycle shop that also sold guns.
"He was pretty unique," Weiser said. "He had a different slant on things. I never knew him to hurt anybody, and he took good care of the animals."
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 the summer of 2010, an animal caretaker was killed by a bear at a property in Cleveland. The caretaker had opened the bear's cage at exotic-animal keeper Sam Mazzola's property for a routine feeding.
Though animal-welfare activists had wanted Mazzola charged with reckless homicide, the caretaker's death was ruled a workplace accident. The bear was later destroyed.
This summer, Mazzola was found dead on a water bed, wearing a mask and with his arms and legs restrained, at his home in Columbia Township, about 15 miles southwest of Cleveland.
It was unclear how many animals remained on the property when he died, but he had said in a bankruptcy filing in May 2010 that he owned four tigers, a lion, eight bears and 12 wolves. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had revoked his license to exhibit animals after animal-welfare activists campaigned for him to stop letting people wrestle with another one of his bears.
Mazzola had permits for nine bears for 2010, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said. The state requires permits for bears but doesn't regulate the ownership of nonnative animals, such as lions and tigers.
Source
However, because I know the general consensus about FOX News and agree with it to a degree:
Sheriff's deputies found about 48 dangerous animals running loose on the farm near the east-central Ohio town of Zanesville, and shot dead about 25 of them, Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz told a news conference.
The owner of the farm,Terry Thompson was found dead on the ground when authorities went to the site to check on him following reports of wild animals running free in the area.
Lutz described the animals found as "mature, very big and aggressive." The farm was home to a plethora of species including grizzly bears, black bears, lions, tigers and cheetahs.
Police were warning residents in the area to stay inside to keep safe, and area schools were ordered closed for Wednesday as a precaution. So far, no members of the public were known to have been hurt or killed by the animals.
There was no immediate word on how the farm's owner died, and Lutz said the police work so far has focused on securing the area around the farm, near Interstate 70 about a mile west of the city limits of Zanesville, and making sure the animals were taken care of.
Deputies, their search efforts hampered by heavy rain, were combing the area for any animals still missing, and the sheriff has ordered any spotted by his deputies be shot on sight.
Veterinarians from the Columbus Zoo, and from The Wilds, which is located about 20 miles away, were standing by to offer assistance if needed. The Wilds is North America's largest Conservation Facility for Endangered Species.
Jack Hanna, the well-known Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, was also offering the sheriff any help he could arrange. He said personnel from The Wilds were called in years ago to help local officials over complaints from neighbors about the wild exotic animal farm.
Lutz said authorities were searching for the animals from their vehicles and were not walking through the heavily wooded rugged area. He said his office was also relying on neighbors and citizens in the area to report any animals they see.
Officials in Zanesville and the West Muskingum Local School district have said schools would be closed on Wednesday, while officials in other districts have said schools would close or were considering delaying opening hours.
Columbus, Ohio
Lions, bears and wolves were among the animals found running loose on Tuesday in Ohio, where the owner of an exotic animal farm was found dead on his property, police said.
<url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1019/Escaped-wild-animals-hunted-in-Zanesville-Ohio>Source
So there you go Bear Grylls/Crocodile Dundee/Steve Irwin types. How would you survive with twenty-five animals including Bears, Lions, Tigers, Wolves, and Cheetahs on the loose in a residential area? Is it a shame these animals are being killed? Should the man have even been allowed to on this kinda place?
And probably most stunning to me, would you just close, or say "nah, our kids are tough, give em a two hour delay and if its not done by then, well, the kids will get some exercise".
ZANESVILLE, Ohio ? Dozens of animals escaped from a wild-animal preserve that houses bears, big cats and other beasts, and the owner later was found dead there, said police, who shot several of the animals and urged nearby residents to stay indoors.
The fences had been left unsecured Tuesday at the Muskingum County Animal Farm in Zanesville, in east-central Ohio, and the animals' cages were open, police said. They wouldn't say what animals escaped but said the preserve had lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, giraffes, camels and bears. They said bears and wolves were among 25 escaped animals that had been shot and killed and there were multiple sightings of exotic animals along a nearby highway.
"These are wild animals that you would see on TV in Africa," Sheriff Matt Lutz warned at a press conference.
Neighbor Danielle White, whose father's property abuts the animal preserve, 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 preserve's owner) had all those animals," she said. "I have kids. I've heard a male lion roar all night."
Lutz called the escaped animals "mature, very big, aggressive" but said a caretaker told authorities the preserve's 48 animals had been fed on Monday. He said police were patrolling the 40-acre farm and the surrounding areas in cars, not on foot, and were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.
"This is a bad situation," Lutz said. "It's been a situation for a long time."
Lutz said his office started getting phone calls at about 5:30 p.m. that wild animals were loose just west of Zanesville on a road that runs under Interstate 70.
He said four deputies with assault rifles in a pickup truck went to the animal farm, where they found the owner, Terry Thompson, dead and all the animal cage doors open. He wouldn't say how Thompson died but said several aggressive animals were near his body when deputies arrived and had to be shot.
Thompson, who lived on the property, had orangutans and chimps in his home, but those were still in their cages, Lutz said.
The deputies, who saw many other animals standing outside their cages and others that had escaped past the fencing surrounding the property, began shooting them on sight. They said there had been no reports of injuries among the public.
Staffers from the Columbus Zoo went to the scene, hoping to tranquilize and capture the animals. The sheriff said caretakers might put food in the animals' open cages to try to lure them back.
Lutz said people should stay indoors and he might ask for local schools to close Wednesday. At least four school districts in the area canceled classes.
Lutz said his main concern was protecting the public in the rural area, where homes sit on large lots of sometimes 10 acres (four hectares).
"Any kind of cat species or bear species is what we are concerned about," Lutz said. "We don't know how much of a head start these animals have on us."
A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which usually handles native wildlife, such as deer, said state Division of Wildlife officers were helping the sheriff's office cope with the exotic animals in Zanesville, a city of about 25,000 residents.
"This is, I would say, unique," spokeswoman Laura Jones said.
White, the preserve's neighbor, said Thompson had been in legal trouble, and police said he had gotten out of jail recently.
At a nearby Moose Lodge, Bill Weiser remembered Thompson as an interesting character who flew planes, raced boats and owned a custom motorcycle shop that also sold guns.
"He was pretty unique," Weiser said. "He had a different slant on things. I never knew him to hurt anybody, and he took good care of the animals."
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 the summer of 2010, an animal caretaker was killed by a bear at a property in Cleveland. The caretaker had opened the bear's cage at exotic-animal keeper Sam Mazzola's property for a routine feeding.
Though animal-welfare activists had wanted Mazzola charged with reckless homicide, the caretaker's death was ruled a workplace accident. The bear was later destroyed.
This summer, Mazzola was found dead on a water bed, wearing a mask and with his arms and legs restrained, at his home in Columbia Township, about 15 miles southwest of Cleveland.
It was unclear how many animals remained on the property when he died, but he had said in a bankruptcy filing in May 2010 that he owned four tigers, a lion, eight bears and 12 wolves. The U.S. Department of Agriculture had revoked his license to exhibit animals after animal-welfare activists campaigned for him to stop letting people wrestle with another one of his bears.
Mazzola had permits for nine bears for 2010, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said. The state requires permits for bears but doesn't regulate the ownership of nonnative animals, such as lions and tigers.
Source
However, because I know the general consensus about FOX News and agree with it to a degree:
Sheriff's deputies found about 48 dangerous animals running loose on the farm near the east-central Ohio town of Zanesville, and shot dead about 25 of them, Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz told a news conference.
The owner of the farm,Terry Thompson was found dead on the ground when authorities went to the site to check on him following reports of wild animals running free in the area.
Lutz described the animals found as "mature, very big and aggressive." The farm was home to a plethora of species including grizzly bears, black bears, lions, tigers and cheetahs.
Police were warning residents in the area to stay inside to keep safe, and area schools were ordered closed for Wednesday as a precaution. So far, no members of the public were known to have been hurt or killed by the animals.
There was no immediate word on how the farm's owner died, and Lutz said the police work so far has focused on securing the area around the farm, near Interstate 70 about a mile west of the city limits of Zanesville, and making sure the animals were taken care of.
Deputies, their search efforts hampered by heavy rain, were combing the area for any animals still missing, and the sheriff has ordered any spotted by his deputies be shot on sight.
Veterinarians from the Columbus Zoo, and from The Wilds, which is located about 20 miles away, were standing by to offer assistance if needed. The Wilds is North America's largest Conservation Facility for Endangered Species.
Jack Hanna, the well-known Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, was also offering the sheriff any help he could arrange. He said personnel from The Wilds were called in years ago to help local officials over complaints from neighbors about the wild exotic animal farm.
Lutz said authorities were searching for the animals from their vehicles and were not walking through the heavily wooded rugged area. He said his office was also relying on neighbors and citizens in the area to report any animals they see.
Officials in Zanesville and the West Muskingum Local School district have said schools would be closed on Wednesday, while officials in other districts have said schools would close or were considering delaying opening hours.
Columbus, Ohio
Lions, bears and wolves were among the animals found running loose on Tuesday in Ohio, where the owner of an exotic animal farm was found dead on his property, police said.
<url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1019/Escaped-wild-animals-hunted-in-Zanesville-Ohio>Source
So there you go Bear Grylls/Crocodile Dundee/Steve Irwin types. How would you survive with twenty-five animals including Bears, Lions, Tigers, Wolves, and Cheetahs on the loose in a residential area? Is it a shame these animals are being killed? Should the man have even been allowed to on this kinda place?
And probably most stunning to me, would you just close, or say "nah, our kids are tough, give em a two hour delay and if its not done by then, well, the kids will get some exercise".
. I do see Sonic Kirby though.
