Lions & Tigers & Bears Oh My.

[The Man]

Its a shame they had to be shot because of that wacko

 

[Joe the meek]

Of course the LEO apologists have weighed in. That was bullshit to just shoot all those animals outright. They were so domesticated that they were damned near all shot right on the farm. They probably were all close range shots - and every animal control office in every medium sized and larger U.S. city has tranquilizer guns.

Love it, I'm an LEO apologist. Wish I would of known that before I drove for 110 minutes on my own time literally the other week to go sign a petition (and show support) against the NC wildlife commission due to the actions their wildlife officers took against private individuals for killing rehabilitated deer in captivity on private land (now that was a turkey shoot).

The DAY of the story and you're judge, jury and executioner. Since I wasn't there personally, nor do I know the exact circumstances on how the animals were put down, I'll hold of any crucifying judgement until more information is available. I can however see it being a no win situation for anyone involved dealing with the animals, and I'm guessing public safety came first, which I agree with.

Counties may have tranquilizer guns, that does not mean that people know how to use them. You also have to know the weight of the animal (drug amount) and shot placement for the dart to be effective. I believe it was also noted in a news account that more than a couple of animals were tried to be sedated, but for whatever reason, to no avail and then they had to be put down. Yet some animals (including carnivores) were saved.

Ever try to shoot a loose tiger or lion at 30 yards with a tranquilizer gun? I haven't. I do know it could be nerve wracking enough with not enough of a "real" gun to begin with, let alone a tranquilizer gun. That's for one animal, let alone dozens.

I can't help but wonder what would of happened if some innocent person would of been attacked and killed by one of the carnivores? What would the publics opinion be of the law enforcement responding then? Couple years ago about an 45 minutes from my house here in NC a child was killed by their neighbors exotic pet (I forget what breed). You should of heard the uproar over that.

My sincere hope is that through this sad event that not only Ohio, but the rest of the nation will re examine their exotic animal laws and hopefully changes (in the law) will be made for the better.

I have no doubt that many Ohio politicians will be covering their ass over this, as Ohio's laws seems very interesting per this subject. In some morbid way, I can see where perhaps the owner of these animals (who seems to of had an interesting history with law enforcement himself which should of targeted him on any laws he was breaking per this subject) might of been trying to make a point on the national level through his own actions, although I don't know that for a fact nor have any information which would support that line of thinking. The one question I would ask is how many people here had even thought about this subject prior to this story?

What's REALLY sad is the amount of unwanted domesticated pets who are put down every single day because their owners are too ignorant to show proper ownership and supervise their animals as well as not having their pets spayed or neutered. However, you don't see an uproar over the internet on that subject do you?

 

[Tuffdisc]

Could of at least used tranquillisers

 

[Joe the meek]

As long as no squirrels were pepper sprayed...

I'll admit it, good one LOL

 

[AUFred]

http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-farm-owner-mistreated-animals-animal-welfare-221103624.html

more information here about the condition of the animals.

 

[AUFred]

After reading more about this case I tend to agree the extermination of the animals was more like a mercy killing and the safest route.

 

[Panacea]

How sad

 

[Joe the meek]

Who said society can be judged on the way it treats it's animals?

Let's face it, unless something makes the news, generally speaking, no on really cares how people treat their animals.

 

[AUFred]

Malnourished and injured animals are far more dangerous to anything around them. According to reports the man who owned this farm has a history of run ins with authorities.

 

[Alien Allen]

If any of those animals were on the guys farm I would question why at least those could not be penned up. Although having said that I see many times zoos do not want to take in animals like this.

Now if they were shot out in the streets and the police had no other weapon to use than a gun then I think they had to be taken down. How are you going to go about tracking a lion or tiger in the dark and protect yourself and the public. Can you imagine the outrage if one of those animals had made it thru the night and attacked somebody the next day if it became known the police had a chance to take it down?

In the end we were not there and I doubt the whole truth will be known. But I suspect some had to be put down and some did not have to be. The lessons from all this are clear as to why it is a bad idea for somebody to be allowed to keep wild animals like that unless there are better controls. Which would include ensuring that those in public safety are fully aware of what the owner has and that public safety has the ability to try to take the animals down with out killing if possible. Unless all those police were so armed then the only thing left is a gun

 

[The Man]

Could of at least used tranquillisers

Thats something local law enforcement does not have on hand..requires special rifles for one and each animal will require a different dose.
So now we need vets present as well
The shots would be tough as no one is trained with the darts to allow for drop and drift.
Many cages would have been needed immediately on hand.
Where to take them after capture>...or better yet..who wants to drag a sleeping tiger to a cage?
They can run after being shot only to come back after waking up.
It is dangerous...shoot a tiger and he runs to you..not a good day.

In a nutshell its something that no one is prepared for...They were no better prepared than I am..
Time is precious in a case such as this
Whats important is no one got hurt IMO

 

[Joe the meek]

Yes, keeping exotic animals is inhumane....so's shooting the shit out of them. Surely the majority of them could have been rounded up and put in zoos or wildlife reserves or something?

Think about that for a second.

The fact is, chances are when someone first showed up, they most likely had no clue as to what was going on.

Imagine you driving up in your car/truck to a bunch of loose, roaming carnivores. Are you trained to handle them? Do you even have a clue what to do? Where do you get the people who know what they're doing to get there QUICK? Do you think all the animals are going to stay in one place while you're trying to figure out what to do? I can only imagine what was going through some of those deputies minds when they drove up to that place. It's one thing if three deputies came upon one tiger, but chances are the animals outnumbered the first responders on the scene.

After reading how some of those animals lived, I do consider more of a mercy killing than anything else.

It's always one thing about reading about a killing, it's something totally different if you get to see it.

 

[Guyzerr]

Good to see some settling down of the masses and common sense kicking in. That doesn't happen very often around here.

 

[Tim]

So when cops shoot dozens of exotic animals to protect the public it is common sense, but give a squirrel a quick shot of pepper spray and the cop is an asshole... got it.

And for the record, I'm with Joe the Meek on this. It was a decision that needed to be made quickly as it was getting dark. It's ALWAYS better to side with caution and protect the public.
Can you even imagine what would have been said if these cops decided to wait until trained people with tranquilizers showed up and a kid was mauled by a tiger in the mean time? A human life is ALWAYS more important than that of an animal and police are meant to protect the public, they are not zoo keepers.

 

[Joe the meek]

And for the record, I'm with Joe the Meek on this.

The Devil called, he wants to know what to do with the ice skates?:tooth

I don't know Tim, there are some guys I personally know and I'd probably take my dogs over them if it came to it

 

[Tim]

The Devil called, he wants to know what to do with the ice skates?:tooth

I don't know Tim, there are some guys I personally know and I'd probably take my dogs over them if it came to it

If you actually take the time and think it through, I don't think you can fault the police for what they did. It was a real shame that it came to this.
If there is anyone to go after, I would say it's Governor Kasich. One of the first things he did when he got into office is to wipe away all the laws concerning keeping exotic animals.

Oh, you might find this thread funny after what people are saying in here...
http://www.offtopicz.net/showthread.php?74148-OMG!-Baby-squirrel-abuse...&highlight=squirrel

 

[The Man]

Bunch of dipshit rednecks shooting fish in a barrell. This was a knee jerk reaction. Most of those animals probably could have been enticed back to their pens with food, and the rest tranquilized. You can see they were shot right in their compound in proximity with their pens. This was wrong.

Who is going to entice them?
Would you surround yourself by tigers{since you think they were just outside the pens}
I doubt seriously the animals you see lined up were shot there but were brought there
Think they are just going to stand there when the gun fire starts?
Who would shoot the tranquilizers?..Cops arent vets..they dont have em or know the dosage.
This isnt TV with one tiger hiding in a corner..this is real life...dozen of animals loose..many very dangerous.
Do you know that if one tiger fully escaped may not be found for months and how many deaths it could cause
Do we need a few pair of tigers breeding in Ohio?
We should be thanking the guys that had the guts to kill the dangerous animals..many at pistol range
They guys prevented many dangerous animals from escaping and killing people..and to breed causing Ohio to be unsafe in the future
IMO they should be given awards of bravery

 

[The Man]

If you actually take the time and think it through, I don't think you can fault the police for what they did. It was a real shame that it came to this.
If there is anyone to go after, I would say it's Governor Kasich. One of the first things he did when he got into office is to wipe away all the laws concerning keeping exotic animals.

Oh, you might find this thread funny after what people are saying in here...
http://www.offtopicz.net/showthread.php?74148-OMG!-Baby-squirrel-abuse...&highlight=squirrel

IMO the guy at fault was the owner he already paid the price.
having the animals are fine if you conform to the safety requirements such as a Zoo.
But its the human factor again..the occasional wacko
The same could happen by a wacko employee at a zoo for instance.

 

[Alien Allen]

Not sure you can equate pepper spraying a squirrel with what happened here Tim

Unless that squirrel showed signs of aggressiveness or rabies it would see to be a stretch to do that.

 

[Guyzerr]

So when cops shoot dozens of exotic animals to protect the public it is common sense, but give a squirrel a quick shot of pepper spray and the cop is an asshole... got it.

Why didn't you call it what it was? It was a baby squirrel and if you don't know the difference in threat level between that and a lion or tiger you are in need of some serious assistance.