Only about 1,400 endangered Bengal tigers are left in the world, according to Jack Hanna.
And because of a series of bizarre, tragic and sickening events last week, there are now 18 less.
But who is to blame for the massacre of 49 wild animals that were set loose by their suicidal owner in Zanesville, Ohio, last Tuesday?
Obviously, the Zanesville sheriff’s department is the easiest target because they shot and killed them. They had tranquilizers at their disposal. And the Columbus Zoo professionals were on their way to help.
However, these were starving and abused animals that weighed hundreds of pounds and that could see in the dark — if you look at it that way, the sheriff didn’t really have a choice when the big cats and the bears started running for civilization.
So, then the deranged hillbilly who owned these wild beasts as pets is the culprit then, right? He clearly could not take care of them properly and had been fined dozens of times for the way he treated his animals. He didn’t have to free them before taking his own life, and the animals may have been spared to zoos and shelters.
But then again, he was allowed to own his lions, bears, leopards, monkeys and the like. Ohio doesn’t ban the selling and trading of exotic animals.
Ah … yes. There’s the problem now, isn’t it?
The buckeye state has some of the most lenient laws against exotic animal trade in the entire nation, and it seems that our mostly agricultural landscape provides a perfect backdrop for those who are just dying to build their own private zoo — that pun was intended because Ohio also has some of the highest statistics for injury or death from an exotic animal.
Maybe the convenience of our landscape is why Gov. John Kasich let the statewide ban on buying and selling these animals, passed by former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, expire in April.
Or maybe he simply forgot about it because the paperwork is in his other desk at the governor’s mansion over there in that horrid “ghetto” of Bexley.
Or maybe it’s just because he was too busy with stripping away the collective bargaining rights of union members.
No, wait. This must be why we’re allowed to carry guns into bars now, right? As protection in case a mountain lion decides to stroll in?
But, I digress, because blaming never leads to progress. Jungle Jack, I expect a great new campaign to get a ban on exotic animal trade passed again. Those graphic pictures that were plastered all over the news would probably do the trick.
Next time I see Kasich in Kroger, I’ll hold him hostage in that hippie liberal health food aisle until he’s on board.
