Cops hunt bears, big cats on loose in rural Ohio

[Trossi3389]

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Schools closed and motorists were warned to stay in their vehicles as officers with assault rifles patrolled a rural area in eastern Ohio Wednesday, a day after police killed dozens of escaped animals from a wild-animal preserve, where the owner was found dead.

When asked on NBC's TODAY show whether Muskingum County Animal Farm owner Terry Thompson may have killed himself, county Sheriff Matt Lutz responded, "Anything's a possibility at this point."

He said authorities were awaiting autopsy results. Lutz had said earlier that the death was not suspicious.

As authorities warned that more animals still were on the loose, three school districts in the region and some private and special schools canceled classes as the remaining bears, big cats, wolves and other beasts from the Muskingum County Animal Farm were hunted down.

A press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. local time was delayed because authorities were trying to contain a grizzly bear and a lion at the time, the msnbc cable channel reported.

Flashing signs along area highways told motorists, "Caution exotic animals" and "Stay in vehicle."

The animals' cages had been opened and the farm's fences had been left unsecured, police said. It was "very possible" that Thompson left the cages open, Lutz said.

Close to 30 of the 48 animals were shot and killed on Tuesday. Officials were pondering how to dispose of the remains.

"Once daybreak hits here, we're going back in to get an accountability of how many animals have been put down, how many animals are still penned up," the sheriff told NBC.

The preserve in Zanesville, about 55 miles east of Columbus, had lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, giraffes, camels and bears. Police said bears and wolves were among the escaped animals that were killed and there were multiple sightings of exotic animals along a nearby highway.

Lutz called the animals "mature, very big, aggressive," but said a caretaker told authorities the animals had been fed on Monday.

Tuesday night, more than 50 law enforcement officials — including sheriff's deputies, highway patrol officers, police officers and officers from the state Division of Wildlife — patrolled the 40-acre farm and the surrounding areas in cars and trucks, often in rainy downpours.

Lutz said they were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.

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."

"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. Tuesday 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 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.

Investigators told NBC's John Yang that preliminary indications were that he committed suicide.

Animals will be 'panicking'
The deputies, who saw many other animals standing outside their cages and others that had escaped past the fencing surrounding the property.

The authorities adopted a shoot-to-kill policy overnight, but Jack Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, told NBC4i.com that veterinarians were at the scene and if it was possible to tranquilize any of the remaining loose animals, without harming human life, then that would be done.

Tom Stalf, senior vice president of the zoo, told NBC's TODAY that people should be careful particularly because the animals themselves would be afraid.

"These are all adult carnivores, so when we talk about the lions and tigers as well as bears, they are all dangerous, especially that they are now out of their area, their enclosures that they were normally in, so they are panicking as well," he told the show.

"They're definitely going to not be used to where they are at, so they are going to be scared, they're panicking, trying to figure out what is going on. They're going to be searching for a place to settle down and trying to, you know, just to calm down a little bit," Stalf added.

White, the preserve's neighbor, said Thompson had been in legal trouble, and police said he had gotten out of jail recently.

"He was in hot water because of the animals, because of permits, and (the animals) escaping all the time," White said. A few weeks ago, she said, she had to avoid some camels which were grazing on the side of a freeway.

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."

[Victor]

I heard Sheriff Matt Lutz say on the mews this morning "We don`t know how many animals we killed. When we are shooting like that, we don`t keep count"

[darth wager]

Originally Posted by Victor

I heard Sheriff Matt Lutz say on the mews this morning "We don`t know how many animals we killed. When we are shooting like that, we don`t keep count"

what a massacre

[Patriots Game]

PETA en route

[be47320]

What an ahole if he did this on purpose which all signs point that he did, may he rot in hell.

[revnecro1273]

wtf...no wildlife or zoo people came in? didn't use tranquilizers?

[guzzi]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

wtf...no wildlife or zoo people came in? didn't use tranquilizers?

itz ohio...

[rhgraham]

like to cougar hunt in ohio

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by rhgraham

like to cougar hunt in ohio

lot of dirty whores there

[Trossi3389]

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — The exotic-animal owner who killed himself after turning loose dozens of lions, tigers and other beasts was deep in debt, and a fellow big-cat enthusiast said Thursday that he had taken in so many creatures he was "in over his head."

A day after sheriff's deputies with high-powered rifles killed nearly 50 animals set free by Terry Thompson, the sheriff refused to speculate why he did it. Many neighbors, meanwhile, were puzzled as to why Thompson – a man who seemed to like animals more than people – would lash out in a way that would doom his pets.

However, court records show that he and his wife owed at least $68,000 in unpaid taxes to the IRS and the county, and he had two federal tax liens filed against him last year. He had just gotten out of federal prison last month for possessing unregistered weapons.

Kenny Hetrick, who has six tigers and other animals on his property outside Toledo, said he used to see Thompson at exotic-animal auctions a few times a year in Ohio. Many of Thompson's tigers had been donated to him by people who bought baby animals that they no longer wanted once they started to grow, Hetrick said.

"He really had more there than what he could do," Hetrick said. "I don't know what his deal was, but he was in over his head."

On Tuesday, Thompson, 62, threw open the cages at his animal preserve and committed suicide. His body was found near the empty cages with a bite on the head that appeared to have been inflicted by a big cat shortly after Thompson shot himself, Sheriff Matt Lutz said. It appeared his body had been dragged a short distance, Lutz said.

Deputies killed 48 animals – including 18 rare Bengal tigers, 17 lions and eight bears – in a hunt across the Ohio countryside that lasted nearly 24 hours. Only a monkey was still missing, and it was probably killed by one of the big cats, Lutz said.

Thompson had run-ins with his neighbors and the law over escaped animals and conditions at his preserve. But whether he acted out of desperation or vengeance in setting the animals loose was unclear.

"I know how much he cared for them, and he would know that they would be killed," said Judy Hatfield, a family friend who visited the farm many times and said it wasn't unusual to have a monkey jump on her lap.

"I don't know what happened. I'm sure some horrible thing happened to him yesterday to make him do this or allow him to lose focus for a moment and do it. But I don't know what it is, and we may never know."

The sheriff said Thompson's intentions were not part of the investigation.

"To take your own life, Mr. Thompson was not in the right state of mind," Lutz said. "And to speculate on why he did this would be a belittlement, I guess, by me, to do that, and I'm not going to do that."

Thompson and his wife spent much of their time and money caring for their menagerie, neighbors said. Most of the big cats and bears were declawed and had been bottle-fed by the couple, Hatfield said. Thompson also kept them fed by picking up roadkill and collecting spoiled meat from grocery stores, said another neighbor, Fred Polk.

The sheriff said that he spoke with Thompson's wife and that she was distraught over the loss of her husband and the animals. "You have to understand these animals were like kids to her," Lutz said. "She probably spent more time with these animals than some parents do spend with their kids."

Thompson's Muskingum County Animal Farm was not open to visitors, but he would occasionally take some of the smaller animals to nearby pet shows or nursing homes. He also provided a big cat for a photo shoot with supermodel Heidi Klum and appeared on the "Rachael Ray Show" in 2008 as an animal handler for a zoologist guest.

As for how he may have covered the costs of taking care of his animals, friends said he had a pilot's license and sometimes picked up extra cash flying people on his private plane. Neighbors also said he and wife gave horse-riding lessons on their farm. The Vietnam veteran once owned a motorcycle shop, friends said.

"When he came back from Vietnam, he was a little bit different. He was kind of a loner after he came back," said Polk, whose property is about 100 yards from Thompson's house. "He liked animals more than he did people. He really did."

Since 2004, Thompson had been charged by local authorities with cruelty to animals, allowing his animals to run free and improperly disposing of dead animals.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also received two complaints about the farm in 2008 and 2009, involving such things as pens that may have been unsafe, animals that were too skinny and dead animals on the property, said Dave Sacks, a USDA spokesman. But the agency decided it had no authority to act.

Federal officials said the government had no jurisdiction over the farm under either the Animal Welfare Act or the Endangered Species Act since the animals were held as private property and were not exhibited or being used for other commercial purposes.

[mikkii10]

who say's you have to go too africa just to go and do some big game hunting