October 20th, 2011
Conservationists have expressed outrage over the recent slaughter of 49 exotic animals in the US state of Ohio.
Ohio, along with Idaho, Nevada, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Wisconsin and West Virginia have extremely lax wildlife ownership laws. In fact, there is nothing to stop a person from owning wild, endangered and potentially deadly animals.
A flock of 56 animals including bears, lions, wolves and monkeys were set free by Muskingum County Animal Farm owner Terry Thompson, before he took his own life last Tuesday evening. Local police were given shoot-to-kill orders with regards to the animals.
“Public safety was our number one concern,” Sheriff Matt Lutz said. “We are not talking about your normal, everyday house cat or dog.”
By Wednesday evening, 49 of the animals were killed. Amongst them were 18 Bengal tigers, of which only 3,200 exist in the wild. Of all the animals, only 6 were contained alive. A grizzly bear, 3 leopards and 2 monkeys were successfully recaptured, while one monkey is still thought to be unaccounted for.
Born Free USA executive vice president, Adam Robert said, “Quite frankly, nobody should have these animals in the first place, so we need to take steps to change laws to make that a reality…These animals belong in accredited facilities with people who can handle them appropriately.”
Since 2004, there had been about 35 complaints made about Terry Thompson’s collection of exotic pets and he had been charged with animal mistreatment. The eight US states in question do not even require owners of wild animals to obtain a permit or license.
Roberts told of what needs to happen next in order to stop such a tragedy from happening again: “All eight states that don’t have regulations should immediately have an executive order by the governor banning the keeping or sale of these animals. Stop people acquiring these animals full stop.”
By Sinéad. Filed under Animal Welfare, News.
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