Wild and Free

Last night, Channel 4 had a documentary on the 2011 Ohio “Exotic Animal Release” called “America’s Animal Hoarder“. It’s not easy viewing, but it’s worth seeing.

It’s an amazing documentary, reflecting an episode I’d actually not heard about. Basically, Terry Thompson, a veteran of Vietnam, had amassed (legally) a collection of wild/exotic animals – Lions, jaguars, tigers, bears and more. On October 18, 2011, Thompson released his animals, and committed suicide. No-one really knows why – he’d been in jail, he was in debt, and (from the sound of the documentary) he had significant – and known – mental health issues.

In Ohio, there’s no law about the keeping of exotic/deadly animals. Thompson had also been a licensed “Class 3” firearms dealer (among other things) which allowed him to sell automatic firearms. He was a known “hoarder” – of vehicles, animals, anything.

It’s a really disturbing documentary, particularly if you happen to be an animal lover, or a fan of (particularly) big cats – and I qualify on both. They had to be shot dead – there was no other alternative, no way to tranquilise 50-60 animals and keep them safely. All the existing pens had been cut open – Thompson had cut the wire fencing, not just opened the doors.

The final toll was

  • 8 tigers
  • six black bears
  • two grizzlies
  • two wolves
  • one macaque monkey
  • one baboon
  • three mountain lions
  • nine male lions, and
  • eight lionesses

You just can’t imagine having to kill that many rare animals – and knowing there’s no choice.

Really really sad – but as much of an indictment of Ohio law (and in some ways American laws in general) as of one individual with such obvious issues. Very, very sad.



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