Dozens of wild animals on the loose in Ohio.

[GIGObuster]

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?se...rld&id=8397210

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (KABC) -- The entire town of Zanesville, Ohio, was locked down after dozens of wild animals were suddenly let loose.

Forty-eight big animals including lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, giraffes, camels and bears ran off from a Zanesville animal farm.

The farm's owner was found dead and the facility's cages left wide open.

One resident took pictures of a bear on her property.

There have been dozens of animal sightings near homes and along freeways.

Authorities on "shoot to kill orders" gunned down one lion.

Police warned people to stay indoors.

What did you do Giraffe?

Well, not so funny when looking at the carnage, and then I have to wonder if 12 monkeys are among them..

[Roo]

Lions, tigers and bears. Oh my!*

Strange story. They didn't say how or why the owner was killed or how the animals were let loose.


*sorry, couldn't resist after hearing the reporter's voice.

[eleanorigby]

Like the animals are gonna stay in the town....

I wonder how many will survive? Breed? It'd be surreal to drive by and see a tiger in the brush in Ohio.

[Borborygmi]

These cheetahs, giraffes, camels, et al escaped from a farm? Apparently my childhood 'The Farmer Says' See 'n Say left me with wider gaps in farm education than I ever realized. Expect to hear from my lawyers, Fisher Price.

[3acres]

Originally Posted by Roo

Strange story. They didn't say how or why the owner was killed or how the animals were let loose.

This article says:

He [Sheriff Matt Lutz] said four deputies with assault rifles in a pickup truck went to the animal farm, where they found the owner, Terry 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.

It might be that they have to wait for an investigation and autopsy to figure out what happened. The article also adds

Ohio has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them.

Check out the linked article for the mention of another exotic animal keeper and his strange death.

[Solfy]

White-tailed deer make enough of a mess when hit by a car, I can imagine the sort of damage a giraffe would do.

[Zeener Diode]

Originally Posted by Borborygmi

These cheetahs, giraffes, camels, et al escaped from a farm? Apparently my childhood 'The Farmer Says' See 'n Say left me with wider gaps in farm education than I ever realized. Expect to hear from my lawyers, Fisher Price.

V: The Velcroraptor says: RAWR!

Originally Posted by Solfy

White-tailed deer make enough of a mess when hit by a car, I can imagine the sort of damage a giraffe would do.

G: The Giraffe says: LOL U MAD

[Veb]

Poor beasties.

Yeah, Ohio is the pits for allowing private ownership of wild and exotic animals. (It's my home state so I can bag on it all I want.) It's the yahoo version of those drug cartel honchos in Mexico who collected wild animals as some weird badge of machismo/conspicuous consumption.

You can bet those poor critters didn't have proper care before the dead guy croaked, and they didn't stand a chance once they got free. Some of the carnivores will probably survive for a while on the plentiful deer population but they'll be hunted down as a danger. Which they are, to be honest. I wish they could be trapped/tranquilized and relocated to a genuine zoo or wildlife refuge. That probably won't happen though.

[BJMoose]

My guess is the owner was killed (or maybe just beaned) by someone who then let all his "pets" loose

[Pere]

Reports I heard suggest that he killed himself after opening the cages.

Most of the animals have already been shot. It sounds like many of them weren't even really trying to get away into the wild, just milling around.

[Orual]

Originally Posted by Peremensoe

Most of the animals have already been shot. It sounds like many of them weren't even really trying to get away into the wild, just milling around.

[HongKongFooey]

Originally Posted by Borborygmi

These cheetahs, giraffes, camels, et al escaped from a farm? Apparently my childhood 'The Farmer Says' See 'n Say left me with wider gaps in farm education than I ever realized. Expect to hear from my lawyers, Fisher Price.

If my kids' Fisher Price farm is any indication we should also be watching for a ginormous frog with sewn eyes wearing a tiara who sits atop the building, also the actual owners of the farm are Ken and Barbie who keep a fleet of Hot Wheels parked in the back forty. I'll monitor their play activities for further clues...