Silence is a Killer

On January 12, 2011, I received the following emails from a friend of mine.  I have only included the relevant portion of the emails sent to me, and my responses:

To: Kristina Brunner
Sent: Wed, January 12, 2011 8:51:00 PM
Subject: Re: Brrrrr


Hey,
Sorry I went quiet there. I am now dealing with a situation in Ohio. It's a real mess. Starving, dying tigers, lions, cougars, primates, and lots of horses. Big cats piled in a garbage heap. :(


Got to figure out a way to start making something happen there, without the big AR's rushing in to try to make big bucks off this tragedy, and euthing everything 

From: Kristina Brunner
Sent: Thu, January 13, 2011 8:07:56 AM
Subject: Re: Brrrrr

I'm sorry to read about what is going on in Ohio. Is this a sanctuary or
private ownership? I cannot understand how people can allow their big cats die
from starvation and then toss them out with the trash. Sounds like another WAO.

To: Kristina Brunner

Sent: Thu, January 13, 2011 9:45:29 AM
Subject: Re: Brrrrr


It's a private owner. The husband is in prison on federal gun charges. The wife is not doing much to keep up all the animals.


They are dying right and left. None even have shelter. Starving and freezing...

I am thinking of calling IFAW, along with the US Fish and Wildlife

To: Kristina Brunner
Sent: Thu, January 13, 2011 4:41:30 PM
Subject: Re: Brrrrr
If I someone wanted to help the lady, how would one contact her? I think I may
have someone who can really make a difference to the surviving animals, if
private owner is willing. No AR person or group.

To: Kristina Brunner

Sent: Thu, January 13, 2011 4:55:31 PM
Subject: Re: Brrrrr


She has to want help. She has been offered free food for the animals,, and she turned it down.


Some people went there over a year ago, and repaired everything and cleaned up the premises. Now it's back the way it was, but worse.


If I can get a chance to talk to her, I will see what's amicable. She and her hubby are pretty redneck though.


Plus, there's so much back taxes owed on the property, she is also facing losing the property. Yet she continues to feel she is doing right by the animals.


She says she is keeping all the animals there, for when her husband gets out of prison, but people fear there will be none left alive by then
 

From: Kristina Brunner

Sent: Thu, January 13, 2011 5:02:00 PM
Subject: Re: Brrrrr


Oh geez... what should I tell my contact...hold off until after you talk to her? k

To: Kristina Brunner
Sent: Thu, January 13, 2011 6:48:11 PM
Subject: Re: Brrrrr


yes, or until I talk to someone who has authority to force her to do something

This was the last thing I heard on the situation--until today.

I woke up to the horrific news that 56 exotic animals were released from their cages Tuesday evening from Terry Thompson’s farm outside Zanesville, OH, and the owner later committed suicide in his home.

As of Wednesday afternoon, authorities reported killing 49 animals -- 18 tigers, 17 lions, 6 black bears, 2 grizzly bears, 3 mountain lions, 2 wolves and a baboon.

Six animals (1 grizzly bear, 3 leopards and 2 monkeys) were safely captured and taken to the Columbus zoo. That left one non-human primate still on the loose.

Animal-related Facebook pages were quick to blame authorities for killing so many animals instead of using tranquilizer darts. Animal Rights groups were quick to denounce private “exotic” pet ownership, demanding a crackdown on private exotic animal ownership.

Often times, snap emotional judgments are made without hearing the facts of the case. For instance, as horrible as it was for the law enforcement officers to shoot these magnificent animals in the dark, they essentially had no choice—human safety must come first.

Can you just image the 911 emergency calls made to the local police department that Tuesday evening? One such call came from the mother whose son lived near the Thompson’s farm reporting that her son saw lions and bears running free and that a tiger chased her son’s horse! Thankfully the horse was saved and placed in the owner’s barn.

What is the most tragic part of this entire story is that it could have been prevented.  The situation was grim 10 months ago; I can only imagine how terrible the situation was when the man came home from prison [yes, prison] and learned that his wife left him, there was no money to feed the animals, and current state of the "farm" was deplorable.  Authorities knew what was going on at this facility, and no one did anything to help the animals.  Thompson's wife, who allegedly left him when he got out of jail, knew how bad the situation was while her spouse was incarcerated and did nothing to help the animals.  I'm even willing to bet several animal organizations knew how bad the situation was at this facility for the last year or so, and chose not to tackle this horrific problem. 

You know what will be the final twist to this story? The remaining animals given back to the wife because, after all, they are her "babies" and she did nothing wrong!  Yeah, right.  Nothing wrong.  The wife could have saved these animals a year ago, but she made the conscious decision to leave the animals in deplorable conditions.  In my opinion, this woman shouldn't be allowed to own a goldfish, let a lone a big cat or primate!

At the end of the day, folks are left to mourn the loss of 49 magnificent animals that died needlessly.  I'm left with a lot of "why's" and "how comes" when I think about how many people knew about this "ticking time bomb" in Zanesville, Ohio, and did nothing to get in there and save them.  Their silence killed these animals.

Dear Jesus, please bless the souls of the animals that died needlessly in Ohio yesterday and today.  Please hold them in your loving arms forever and ever.  Amen.

Later: 

To: Kristina Brunner
Sent: Thu, October 20, 2011 2:22:03 PM
Subject: Re:


I was on my way home from Nebraska all day yesterday, listening to updates about Ohio all the way. I am really bummed out over that. I talked with a bunch of people up there, about getting those animals out of there, and was stonewalled all the way. That was 8 months ago..

Friday:

The media is reporting:

...The dead animals were buried on the 73-acre Thompson property. The six surviving animals were the only ones not freed. They were taken to the Columbus Zoo, where they were reported in good health Thursday.





The animals are now the property of Thompson's widow, Marian, who helped care for them and is reluctant to give them up.


"These animals were like kids to her," Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz says. "She probably spent more time with these animals than some parents spend with their kids."


Jack Hanna, Columbus Zoo director emeritus, says he tried to explain to Marian Thompson why the surviving animals had to be removed from the property. The retired sixth-grade teacher was estranged from her husband and not living on the property when he turned the animals loose.

"She was confused and sad," Hanna says. "I said, 'I'm not taking your babies or children. I'm taking your animals to the zoo.'"

"She was very distraught," Lutz says.


The leopards and young grizzly were thin, says Doug Warmolts, director of animal care at the Columbus Zoo.


The monkeys — Celebes macaques, native to Indonesia — were in good health.


The zoo has been in contact with many accredited zoos ready to care for the animals, Warmolts said. He said it's up to legal authorities in Muskingum County to determine what happens to the animals. "If it's determined that the animals go back to the owner, we'll do that," he says.


Lutz says it hasn't been decided where the animals will go.

Gee, what shock...