I was shocked today after hearing about a massive animal slaughter that took place in Zanesville, Ohio, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. A man named Terry Thompson, an owner of about 60 exotic animals, let them all loose on his farm shortly before shooting himself in the head. The police made the call to shoot all of the animals, fearing that if anyone tried to capture them, they would be mauled to death. This course of action rubbed many animal lovers the wrong way. The police claimed that "Tranquilizer guns proved ineffective — and in some cases, weren't even available." Despite hearing this, some are still having trouble digesting that they killed 18 endangered Bengal tigers, 17 lions, and 6 black bears. For more information, feel free to read
this article. Did the government make the right decision? As Americans, we tend to make decisions that benefit both the individuals of society AND the greater good. True, there was potential for an accident involving a human, but automatically resorting to killing MULTIPLE breeds of endangered animals was "the right thing to do?" How do you think the government should have handled the predicament?
I think this is a situation that is being played out everyday in America and in the end it always comes back to hurt the animals. I don't think that people should be allowed to keep wild animals, like tigers, as pets. The danger is just too high and it is also cruel for the animal. If the animal is kept in a cage all of its life it will drive itself crazy like the animals you see at the zoo who are constantly pacing around. If the tiger gets any freedom then there is the possibility that it will get out and harm an innocent person. This always seems to end up with the animal being put down. Strictly speaking this is not fair for the animal. Why should the wild animal be punished for acting like a wild animal? In nature we don't mind if a tiger mauls a deer. We should punish the person who tried to keep the tiger as a pet and put innocent people in harms way. The same situation has happened many times involving pit bulls. Owners keep the dogs confined in tight spaces with no way to release any energy. When a passerby happens to get to close the one time the owner left the gate open, the pit bull goes after the passerby. You don't blame the dog for acting like a dog, you blame the owner for letting the dog off of the leash and putting the dog and anyone coming into contact with the dog in a dangerous situation.
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