The lions, tigers, and bears (oh my) were just slaughtered by the Ohio police. 49 exotic animals were killed after being set free by Terry Thompson, their suicidal owner.  While Thompson, who had been charged with animal cruelty and abuse several times, was obviously not capable of caring for these animals and should bear a large part of the blame for their slaughter, the real culprit is the state of Ohio itself because of their laws allowing these kinds of things to happen.

According to Born Free USA, an animal advocacy group in Ohio, “No person may bring into the state a non-domestic animal unless the possessor: obtains an entry permit; health certificate certifying the animal is free of infectious diseases; and a certificate of veterinary inspection. Persons in the state possessing non-domestic animals do not need to obtain a permit.”

This means that essentially anyone could bring any healthy animal into the state and keep
it as a pet.  This is where the state of Ohio takes some of the blame.  When there is almost nothing required to keep animals like tigers and mountain lions as pets, an incident like this is bound to happen sooner or later.

Perhaps the worst part of this story is how many rare and wonderful creatures were
lost.  Bengal tigers are considered an endangered species with less than 2,500 left worldwide, and 18 of them were killed.  There were also 17 lions murdered, a member of the vulnerable species list.  Also killed were six black bears, three mountain lions, two wolves, two grizzly bears, and a baboon.

This massive slaughter is a great loss to nature, and it should never have been able to happen. Luckily, this wouldn’t be the case in Maryland.  The laws in Maryland have the strictest rating from Born Free USA, who says, “No person may possess or breed the following species of animals as a “pet”: foxes, skunks, raccoons, all species of bears, alligators, crocodiles, all species of wild cats, wolves,
nonhuman primates, various venomous reptiles, etc.”

While I take comfort in the fact that our state is not one that allows such irresponsible behavior, the problem will not be solved until the possibility for tragedies like these is eliminated everywhere.  People can take action by visiting sites like bornfreeUSA.com which allow you to sign petitions lobbying for change in exotic animal laws across the country.

Martha Schick is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.