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| Wandering the streets of Cleveland near you! |
ZANESVILLE, Ohio (WTVN) -- A number of exotic animals, including lions, bears and cheetahs, were running loose in Muskingum County after someone opened their cages. The owner of the wild animal preserve on Kopchak Rd, which runs along I-70, was found dead. During a press conference Tuesday night, Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz urged residents to stay indoors and recommended that some area schools cancel classes on Wednesday. Zanesville City Schools, West Muskingum Local Schools and Maysville Local Schools had cancelled classes. There were reportedly upwards of 50 animals at the farm. "Right now, we're shooting to kill," Lutz said. "This is a bad situation. It's been a situation for a long time. We want people to take every precaution." The farm's owner, Terry Thompson, was found dead after deputies received several reports of wild animals near his home around 5:30 p.m. Deputies armed with assault rifles went to the area and found a number of animals outside their cages. Others had gotten past the property's surrounding fence.
Not to my fellow Bostonians, this is when you panic. When Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh MY! Are just stampeding around some local hill-billy's farm, thats the time to gather the children and go on lockdown. Not when we're talking about a baby and momma Zebra out for a leisurely stroll around a controlled zoo like we had this past weekend...I mean are wild Zebra's even dangerous? Aren't they basically mulatto horses? Would everyone freak out if a horse was just wandering around aimlessly? Didn't think so.
By the way, as a law enforcement officer, this is easily the high point of your career...I'm not saying the idea of the animals being slaughtered is a particularly nice one, but as a cop, the day you get to take out the assault rifles and go big game hunting with orders of shoot to kill, is the day you'll remember the rest of your career.
