http://m.cbsnews.com/storysyno...0122339&videofeed=36 Sadly there is a death involved but if I lived in Ohio I would grab my
Big bore and get a free safari and maybe save some lives in the process.
Dangerous animals escape Ohio farm
October 18, 2011
by CBNews.com

Updated 1:45 a.m. ET

ZANESVILLE, Ohio - Dozens of animals escaped Tuesday 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.

As a result of the breakout, several schools near the preserve have canceled classes Wednesday, reports CBS 10-TV.

The fences had been left unsecured 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.

"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.

I knew there was a reason for my 416 even if it is a long ways away.

Did vist the area once to vist the wife uncle.

This report says multiple cages were left open and the property fence as well. That reeks of sabotage from PETA or likeminded nutcases. Just my 2 cents.

What should scare all is that the authorities are reported to be using "assault rifles." 223 caliber?

Thompson did a year(?) on several weapons charges, automatic weapons included.

A little research doesn't paint a particularly good picture of him.

Maybe he got eliminated over some kind of illegal activities he was involved in.

Why only a year on the charges? just askin'.


http://www.atf.gov/press/relea...arms-possession.html

http://www.google.com/search?h...347l1058l1.2.1.1l5l0

-According to Zanesville Mayor Howard Zwelling, the owner is believed to have taken his own life. However, before he died, he let all the animals loose.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com...scaped-wild-animals/

Anyone know a good taxidermist in the area that will take in a Lion without any paperwork?

quote:

Originally posted by I Bin Therbefor:
What should scare all is that the authorities are reported to be using "assault rifles." 223 caliber?

yeah I noticed that. Some local big bore hunters could save them from being eaten.

A big bore would be nice, but 10-15 rounds of .223 isnt anything to sneeze at!

Do you think you you could get 10 or 15 aimed shots on a charge?

The best I heard on Fox news a reported said among the loose animals were some 300 pound tigers. I do believe they would me malnourished at that weight unless they were cubs. I can just see a police officer with his 9mm pistol and a Griz.

Seems there is still one lion still not killed. Free lion hunt!

Down to just one wolf and one monkey that reportedly has the herpes B virus.

Paris Hilton evidently caught the scent of said monkay, all the way from California

I live less than five miles from this farm. It has been a real "zoo" here since late yesterday. The owner was an eccentric individual who has had many brushes with the authorities including owning several fully automatic weapons without the appropriate license for which he did a year in prison. He just got out of prison about three weeks ago and his wife filed for divorce recently. The unoffical word is that he let all of the animals loose and then committed suicide. Much to my regret, no one called me to assist in the safari but I am afraid I don't have that much 458 or 375 ammo anyway! Another rumor is that a couple of "hunters" were caught trying to cart away on of the dead lions. I guess they wanted a free trophy! One of the folks who works for me lives close enough that they would hear the lions every night. Last night all they heard was gunfire!I gues it sounded like opening day of deer season in our county. What a way to get your town's name in the news!!
John

This entire thing is utterly repugnant to me, from the nutcase suicide who started it, to the senseless slaughter that seems to have ended it.

What a world.

quote:

to the senseless slaughter that seems to have ended it.

The photos are ugly, and sad. Worth a thousand words.

Boom Stick, this is a search and destroy mission. I doubt the officers are going anywhere solo. At least in pairs maybe more. Two officers with AR's opening up on a lion or tiger or even a bear SHOULD be able to get 10-15 hits between them.Ive never hunted these, but i would think that many hits would at the very least turn them.And die in a very short period of time. Anyway, it seems to be working.

The photos were pretty amazing. I suspect the cats were a lot larger than indicated on the news. Several of the lions were outstanding from a trophy standpoint. The pictures I saw of the tigers looked like something from a shikar in the 1920's.

The next time a thread starts about whether a .50 caliber is really adequate for dangerous game, I suspect this will be brought up!

Well those local cops had quite an adventure that night, Final body count is 18 Tigers, 17 lions, 3 mountain lions, 6 black bear and 2 grizzly bears. Three leopards and a grizzly were still caged so they were shipped to the Columbus zoo.

This topic is closed.

you had your fun but it has nothing to do with 'Big Bores'.

George