The Goat Pen

"Kids, your Uncle Henry has killed himself."

"That's horrible. How did he do it?"

"Lion."

eCat wrote:yea, I hate to hear it.

I 'm of a mindset its pointless to shoot an animal that doesn't represent meat on the table.

aTm wrote:

"Kids, your Uncle Henry has killed himself."

"That's horrible. How did he do it?"

"Lion."

Well we know a bear didn't get him.

eCat wrote:probably true - still, if an animal is sitting next to each cage waiting for a bowl of cat food, does it really need to be shot for the safety of the public?

I do understand what the deputies were faced with. They have a mauled body on the ground and dangerous animals already wandering around town and are faced with these animals outta their cages

Sheriff Lutz from the Muskingum County Sheriff Department has confirmed in a 3:00 pm press conference that 56 animals were on the loose after being set free by Terry Thompson, who was found dead on the property. Sheriff Lutz says they have killed one wolf, six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, one mountain lion, and eighteen tigers. One grizzly bear, three leopards, and two monkeys were transported to the Columbus Zoo. Still on the loose are a grey wolf,.along with a rabid monkey who may have Herpes B. If you come in contact with either of these animals you are advised not to approach them, and call 9-1-1 immediately.

Still, it was grim work, Mr. Lutz said, with many of the officers saying it would be difficult to explain to their children why they had to kill the animals.

“No one hates to see animals destroyed more than me; but I do understand both sides of this story. The police can't possibly be expected to train for every kind of emergency. They simply had to act quickly.”

Efforts to tranquilize some animals failed. In one incident Wednesday morning, a veterinarian tried to tranquilize a 300-pound tiger, Mr. Lutz said. "This thing just went crazy. It started to run into the wooded area and our officers took it down."

"What was done had to be done," said Jack Hanna, a television wildlife host and director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, who appeared beside the sheriff. "It's a tragedy beyond belief."

Six animals inside Mr. Thompson's home were transferred to a zoo, Mr. Lutz said. All the destroyed animals were buried on the property.