Ohio man frees exotic animals then kills self

• Skye wrote on 2011-10-21 03:56

  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.

  
  
  http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lions-tigers-shot-ohio-owner-freed-14775780
  
  tl;dr version is the title
  
  There's a video, but I have no idea how to embed it here. I warn you though, you may not like the images in it.
• Ithiliel wrote on 2011-10-21 04:17
  =( Makes me sad that they couldn't(apparently) tranquilize the animals and have them transported to wildlife reserves. Especially the Bengals...
  
  Edit: I know that the officers were forced into that situation, so I'm not saying that they're terrible people for shooting them. Rather, I'm just sad that they had no other choice.
• Skye wrote on 2011-10-21 04:20
  Yeah. But if you think about it, would you want 50 tigers/bears/lions that are potentially hungry roaming your town while they try to get tranquilizers and whatnot? They really didn't have any time to spare, unfortunately.
  But the picture of all the dead animals was awful to see every time they showed it in the video.
• Ithiliel wrote on 2011-10-21 04:22

  Quote from Skye;629233:

  Yeah. But if you think about it, would you want 50 tigers/bears/lions that are potentially hungry roaming your town while they try to get tranquilizers and whatnot? They really didn't have any time to spare, unfortunately.
  But the picture of all the dead animals was awful to see every time they showed it in the video.

  
  
  Yeah I understand, it's why I edited my post to include this:
  

  I know that the officers were forced into that situation, so I'm not saying that they're terrible people for shooting them. Rather, I'm just sad that they had no other choice.

• Skye wrote on 2011-10-21 04:24
  Well then! XP
  
  But the zoo guy, Jack Hannah I think his name is, did rescue a few of the animals, so that was good.
• Lolicon wrote on 2011-10-21 04:29
  My friend was talking about this today. The article was tl;dr but what he said was that theres still a monkey with Hepatitis B on the loose.
• Cynic wrote on 2011-10-21 04:31
  He's an idiot for letting his precious animals meet such an unjust end.
  
  The police however are also at fault for not having tranquilizers handy in case of such an emergency.
• Strawberry wrote on 2011-10-21 04:37
  I feel bad for all those animals that were shot. The reason was justified properly, but I kind of wish that it'd be so much better off if they ended up being tranquillized and sent elsewhere.
  
  Can't they show anything else but the shot dead animals in the videos? It's just sad how someone that actually loved animals more than people seemed to let them free like that. He wasn't doing them any good in the end though, if that was what he wanted to do.
• Skye wrote on 2011-10-21 04:48

  Quote from Jerain;629243:

  My friend was talking about this today. The article was tl;dr but what he said was that theres still a monkey with Hepatitis B on the loose.

  
  
  Yeah, I heard that too. In the video the lady said they think the monkey may have been eaten.
• Cannibal wrote on 2011-10-21 05:02

  Quote from Cynic;629245:

  He's an idiot for letting his precious animals meet such an unjust end.
  
  The police however are also at fault for not having tranquilizers handy in case of such an emergency.

  
  There were actually vets with them a lot of the time, and there were quite a few times where they attempted to tranquilize the animals, and it failed. Also, it was dark outside when most of this happened. Other people may think that the animals should have been the ones cared about the most, but the police have to do their job and protect the people in the surrounding area.
  
  This has been on the News a lot here in Ohio, so they've definitely covered the story more than this article does. All of the animals that are still alive and were captured are being taken to the Zoo.
• Ithiliel wrote on 2011-10-21 05:08

  Quote from Nexon;629303:

  
  
  This has been on the News a lot here in Ohio, so they've definitely covered the story more than this article does. All of the animals that are still alive and were captured are being taken to the Zoo.

  
  
  Oh, well I'm glad to hear this at least. No one has been hurt though right?
• Cannibal wrote on 2011-10-21 05:11

  Quote from Lilith;629316:

  Oh, well I'm glad to hear this at least. No one has been hurt though right?

  
  Not that I know of.
• Kaeporo wrote on 2011-10-21 18:08

  This is blasphemy!! I hope that the world never forgets the sheer ignorance and carelessness by the state of Ohio. In no way did these deputies and sheriff have to kill this many exotic and endangered (yes ignorant people, these animals are the last of their kind!!!!!) animals!!! They are LIEING. They were clearly gun happy and chose violence over compassion. Ignorant and demented authorities with no concern for living things. OHIO you will never see me step foot on your blood land!!!!

  
  
  This comment caught my attention. I will never be able to understand the sort of people who think this way.
  
  What an unfortunate situation.
• Ithiliel wrote on 2011-10-21 20:03

  Quote from Kaeporo;629813:

  This comment caught my attention. I will never be able to understand the sort of people who think this way.
  
  What an unfortunate situation.

  
  
  Wow, just wow. The police did what they had to do in this situation, they even expressed how they were sad it had to come to this. They didn't "choose" violence over compassion, they were forced into this situation by the deceased owner. I'm sure if the animals had been kept in their habitats they would have gladly given them to zoos and wild life reserves.
• Skye wrote on 2011-10-21 21:09

  Quote from Kaeporo;629813:

  This comment caught my attention. I will never be able to understand the sort of people who think this way.
  
  What an unfortunate situation.

  
  
  That's just ridiculous.
  smh