Lissette I can totally see where you are coming from with all of the beautiful animals that lost their lives over this horrible incident. We can all sit back tonight and look at the pictures of all of the dead bodies but I think the police did the best they could. The entire situation was so out of the norm I just cannot even imagine being faced with the decisions they made to shoot on site. :( The ones to blame for what happened today are the legislators of OH who sat by and allow these types of animals to be kept with lacks laws. IMO~when it's known that the laws allow exotic animals to be kept as these were with minimal restrictions, it will attract those that have a need for owning dangerous wild animals to the state. I just cannot imagine the panic and terror in the town this occurred. You literally would not be safe inside your own how with a leopard, lion or tiger lurking within a populated area. Truth be told, it was only a matter of time before something like this would have taken place. Animal lovers like ourselves are appalled at the outcome when in retrospect this was a ticking time bomb that was ignored and the end result was a heartbreaking tragedy. What needs to be addressed now are all of the others like the mad man who released these animal and how they are going to prevent something like this from EVER happening again.

Seriously this is the best most positive, real sense of summing it up perspective and proactive post I've seen on YT in awhile. GO JOdi! :thumbup:

Total agree with all of this statement! The first thing I thought of though was what about all the Yorkie owners in that area! You wouldn't be safe to walk your dog or let it outside to go to the bathroom! What a distaster!!

I agree. Even Jack Hanna advised that they had no other choice in this tragic instance.

They simply could not take the risk.

I'm all for banning the ability for idiots like the one in this story to own these animals.

He had been in jail previously for animal abuse. Humans did fail these animals -but I believe the ones that did were higher up the food chain so to speak. Legislation is needed to prevent this.

Jack Hanna said in an interview this morning that if they would have tried to tranquilize and trap it would have taken around 10 minutes for each animal to hopefully be taken down. There was also the risk that they were headed into a populated area.

Exactly. I blame the owner who let them loose before he killed himself. These are wild animals, and most would attack and do a lot of harm to people and other animals. I do not blame the police. If we had a Lion coming into my property I would shoot first, and then call 911 and have a beer as I wait for them to show up.

This was the Jack Hanna interview I seen. It was from yesterday morning, so it might be a little outdated already, but he did a good job explaining why the animals had to be shot. He also touched base on his ideas for how the laws need to be changed. He talks towards the end, and there is a commercial at the beginning.

Jack Hanna on Escaped Wild Animals in Ohio | Video - ABC News

now they are privately buried somewhere and anyone that tries to take a body will be prosecuted. as the daughter of a federally and state licensed taxidermist i personally see no reason why a few of the same licensed taxidermists can't have those bodies and make them forever preserved and beautiful and donate them to museums around the world for educational purposes. these beautiful creatures were murdered at least honor them with a beautiful mount of them somewhere that will live on forever. i know some people won't agree on this and the state is prob worried about HSUS or PETA having a problem with taxidermy but from that type of life i really feel like it's more respectful to turn them into beautiful treasures than leave them bloody and cold in the ground :(

Some religions prohibit this. I just wanted to state that.

Amen! All those people who think the police were wrong need to think what they would do if faced with one of those animals. Funny thing is that if the police had tried tranquilizing and someone got killed, then the police would have been wrong. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Their job is to protect the public and that is exactly what they did.

Don't get me wrong...I feel sick for those beautiful animals....but it is not anyone's fault but the fool who let them go and then shot himself.

I can't figure out why people are mad at the police. I'm sorry, but if animals were endangering the people or the pets that I had a responsibility to protect, I would have done the same thing. You can't count on regular strength tranquilizers (probably intended for loose dogs) to successfully and safety take down lions and tigers.

The state of OH is at fault for apparently having such crumby laws and the person who let them out.

As for the remains, I think they should have gone to zoology/veterinary/research programs so that people could learn from them and hopefully have more of an understanding of their anatomy, medical needs, and nutritional needs.

I think its just the initial reaction when you here so many animals some of them endangered in the world are killed because I wondered why there wasnt some ofther way also. But when you think what those police were faced with like they are inexperienced dealing with big wild animals, it was soon going to be night, how do you containt the animals in a timely manner, and if they wouldnt have acted the animals would have moved out to the populated areas they had no choice. It is just a bad and sad situation all around. i just love tigers and was so upset to hear so many were killed when there are only like 1200 bengal tigers in the world. The fault lies in the owner of the preserve and the loose regulations on the owners of exotic animals in Ohio

I'll bet Ohio will be firming up some of its exotic pet ownership laws after so much carnage and their absolute blessing in no person or persons having been attacked/maimed/killed by one or more of the animals. It could have been a horror show if those policemen hadn't acted to fast and efficiently. Imagine if those lions had somehow gotten a person - a child! Thank God things weren't worse with one or more human bodies added to all of those of the poor animals. Hopefully we will not have to hear of another horror like this ever.

People get outraged at the police because many think ideally, or just need to blame someone for this loss.

Blame the one who created the situation, it was a judgment call and I'm okay with this one it's not like they didn't try it's not like they just had one wild animal they were overwhelmed in a crisis do or die situation. The judgment call was made based on extreme circumstances: it required extreme measures.


These people IMunhumbleO should be more proactive in animal rights then and if they are or were they should have been more concerned with the treatment these animals received prior to their misery being ended.

Realistically if one of these people was to see a large exotic (killer) in their yard and they had a gun, I bet my bottom dollar they'd go for it and defend themselves.
These police were doing their job: keeping the community safe.

I personally feel bad for the police one of them was in tears after having shot animals, can you imagine how he feels, what he's going through and what he's thinking about now before he goes to sleep at night?

Off my big mouth soap box now...good points Ellie May.

It's very simple, yes I do blame the man that shot himself. But to me our laws need to change. If your state allows as many exotic animals as this person had on his property then you better have an emergency plan like you would a zoo. It's the state of Ohio that should be held responsible. The Police in my opionion should have had a plan too. How long have they known this man had all these animals on his property? I personallly have know quite a few cops and know that they would have had a Hunting Orgas##. I stand my ground that the State of Ohio responsible and should have provided stronger tranquillizers. These animals should not have died!!!I dont care what Jack Hanna says. He is on TV in front of the media, of course he cant say anything bad. Lissette