I'm sure you've heard the sad news about the owner of a wildlife preserve in Zanesville, Ohio, who released the animals on his preserve allowing them to go free before taking his own life. Sadly, many of these wild animals had to be killed since they were posing an immediate threat to the people in Zanesville. When all was said and done, 49 animals were slaughtered including 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, a pair of grizzly bears, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon (and a monkey that had been killed by one of the lions).
The animals were set loose by 61-year-old preserve owner Terry Thompson in his final, desperate act. Thompson was recently released from prison after serving one year on federal weapons charges. Thompson had also been charged with animal abuse and neglect in the past. He was willing to risk the lives of both humans AND animals when he released the animals. He had to have known that somewhere along the line there was going to be loss of life, whether the animals killed humans or the humans killed animals.
After observing where these animals had been living, animal expert Jack Hanna described the conditions as "abominable" and said that the animals were living in "filth." It's especially sad that so many Bengal tigers had to be killed since they are on the verge of extinction. I guess it's better for the animals to die than humans, but it's really sad that so many unique and/or endangered animals had to die in such a senseless way.
On to another heinous news story from this week. A few days ago in Philadelphia, four mentally handicapped adults were found hidden in a basement, one chained to a chair. Three people have been arrested and are accused of holding the people captive and stealing their Social Security checks. The victims were found malnourished and in their own filth, but they're all said to be in stable condition. The ringleader of the group, Linda Weston, has served time for murder (she murdered her sister's boyfriend/husband). She sounds like a real winner!
Why do some people have to be so crazy?! Generally, I think most people are good, but how/why do some people end up such bad apples? Why can't we all just love each other and follow the golden rule? Would that be so difficult?!
1 comments:
I have been reading your blog for a while and this is the first time I'm commenting (I think- I may have dropped you a note when I found the blog, I don't remember).
Those people in Philadelphia that you mentioned were my neighbors here in West Palm Beach. It saddens me that I never saw anything at all. Granted, I work 2 jobs, go to school, and pull an internship, I still feel some guilt for the oversight. What angers me most is today's update in the Palm Beach Post (www.palmbeachpost.com) that quotes several other neighbors who DID see what was going on and did NOTHING. How does this happen? How have we become so afraid of authority or so apathetic towards each other that we refuse to speak up for those who can't speak up for themselves? I really wish someone could answer that for me.
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