49 animals were killed, 6 were captured, and 1 animal has unknown whereabouts. These animals included tigers, lions, grizzly bears, and wolves that were set on the loose by Terry Thompson, an Ohio exotic animal farm owner.
On Tuesday, the 18th of 2011, police and law enforcement offices were flooded with calls from people reporting sightings of exotic animals, a giraffe grazing alongside cars speeding on the highway, and a monkey in a tree.
By the time deputies arrived on his farm, Thompson was dead. He was reported to have shot himself in the head after throwing open animal cages, cutting open pens, and unlocking the gates of the farm, allowing the animals to roam wherever they please.
Most of the animals were shot since tranquilizers required more time to take effect in larger animals, as Muskingum County Sheriff reported:
“We just had a huge tiger, an adult tiger that must’ve weighed 300 pounds, that was very aggressive. We got a tranquilizer in it, and this thing just went crazy.”
49 out of 56 of Thompson’s animals were killed as a means of protecting the public from potential dangers that the animals might cause. 6 of the animals were rescued successfully, it is still unknown where the animals will go but Marian (Thompson’s estranged wife) has expressed interest in keeping the animals herself.
The last animal of the 56, reported to be a monkey, might have been eaten by one of the lions or tigers.
Thompson’s farm has a history of animal abuse and neglect, with reports that animals are never provided with sufficient food and water. Living conditions are extremely unsanitary, with the layers of urine and feces that animals are forced to live on in addition to stench of carcasses. Some animals are even forced to live alongside the carcasses, as the dead are not moved until they are placed in a hole of the increasing number of animals dying from mistreatment.
Cages were not appropriately sized for the animals, with tigers and lions living in cages as small as dog kennels that didn’t allow them to move around. The cages were placed right next to each other, creating anxiety and stress among the animals. One tiger was missing a tail as a result of the tail slipping into another cage and was ripped off or bitten off by another animal.
There have been many reports of cattle and horses breaking free in search of food and water, grazing on neighbors’ lawns or licking the rain droplets off of a car for water. There is also some speculation that one of the big cats that Thompson owned tried to eat him before running off, he has bite marks on his head and his body was dragged for a short period of time.
This occurrence has sparked a stricter reinforcement of laws protecting animals of all types, something that manyOhiocitizens say has been long overdue.
“I think that it’s sad that they had to have a tragic event occur for them to enforce laws for animal protection,” Julia Hong ’13 comments, “These animals are already endangered and they deserve utmost under law.”
Marian Thompson has told authorities that she and her husband took in the animals because they had been abused and neglected, confirming their reported reputation as “animal lovers”.
Authorities are still trying to figure out how Thompson got the animals originally and why he intentionally endangered them after claiming to love animals.
