Comments

1
In spite of your sarcasm, they do have to rehabilitate such animals before releasing them into the wild when they catch them (which is what Ohio should be doing) because they DO actually lose that killer instinct when in captivity. So nice try to spin, but that circus fellow was only killed because the tiger underestimated the toughness of human skin.
2
It seems to me humans kill far more than any other animal on this planet.
3
*** ATTENTION DAN SAVAGE:

Charles Mudede has hacked your password and is now posting stoned, nonsensical "deep thoughts about racism" under your byline. Please change your password and have a word with Charles.
4
Since big cats are being put down, can we nominate @1?
5
Apples and oranges, Dan. Wild animals versus animals with about 10,000 years worth of selective breeding for domestication.

Not a trivial difference.
6
Damn, @3 beat me to it.

Also @1, there is typically no path for rehabilitation into the wild for captive animals like these. Their best hope is the Columbus Zoo, with occasional guest stints on the Letterman show.
7
Some animals are dangerous, some are less dangerous very few are completely benign. JUST LIKE HUMANS. A tiger will eat you if he gets hungry enough or scared enough. And HOW is Ohio supposed to release these animals into the wild without insane expense to the state?
8
You Pit Bulls are the 'everyone deserves a mother and a father' of the pet world right? They were brought into this world by people who don't know what they're doing but do the reproducing anyway and then they abuse them with bad socialization and follow none of the handling protocols that a small predator require.
9
i do not hate pit bulls. i've known many sweet ones & as someone who knows dogs well, in almost all situations i find it very easy to distinguish a potentially violent dog from a friendly one. that said, i love the way dan hates pit bulls.
10
Nomination accepted, @4. All in favor, say "aye."
11
@5, ...So selective breeding makes a difference? and if we selected to make s dog good at fighting, say by being aggressive, and powerful, and unsociable, would that make a difference?
12
Thanks, Dan. Thanks to your tireless work on behalf of whining about pit bulls, I realize that I never should have adopted the four month old pit mix that had been dumped on the street and discovered by a friend of mine. I should have euthanized her. I've only had her now for two years - maybe it's not too late?
13
@11 The power and strength is correct, but the "nature vs. nurture" argument on such matters .... nurture has shown to have a much larger impact on the animal, specifically talking about domestic canines. The real difference is the fact that they don't know one important fact, that humans have kin their teeth and claws will rip to shreds. Regardless of the breed, they have to be taught this fact, even domestic felines can learn this (not one of my cats ever clawed me after the age of 1 year) if the teaching method is done correctly. The fact of the matter is that it's not just the owner, but also people's reactions to the animal. Fear, even illogical fear, will trigger any animal's alertness, and often aggravate them, especially if not the owner's fear. If the owner feels fear toward someone else, most animals will regard that other person as a threat. Also don't kid yourselves, animals do often play favorites and the legal owner can sometimes not be the one the animal actually regards as family.
14
shut the fuck up already. we all get it. you hate pit bulls. you think they should be banned/shot/exterminated. i personally think that your bitching about pit bulls sounds a lot like the right bitching about gays/blacks/immigrants, and yeah it bugs me.
15
I have a dream that one day Slog will shut the fuck up about the fucking pit bulls already.
16
Zebras are reactionaries,
Antelopes are missionaries,
Pigeons plot in secrecy,
And hamsters turn on frequently.
17
Thanks for affirming my choice of Mudede in the profile questions, Dan. During the Amanda Knox drama I was beginning to wonder, but now I remember why I picked him.
18
I wouldn't have a problem with pit bulls if their character wasn't so fucking violent.
19
@11 yes, but they are still bred to respond to training by humans. They are still domestic animals, and not remotely in the same category as a freaking tiger.

To compare the two is simply asinine.
20
Well, since we can't tell which dogs are being properly "nurtured," and since so many clueless owners - the ones saying "Fido was never aggressive before" in the aftermath of the bloodbath Fido just made - don't seem to know if they're "nurturing" properly, outlawing the breed is the most fair thing to do.

For those who want to punish the owner, lets hear some suggestions, particularly in the case of owners who probably treated the dogs fine but also probably without the "pack leader" thing dogs need to be well behaved. What legal remedies should we pursue when they maim and kill?
21
@2 Prove it.
22
Not really sure why you pit bull defenders keep taking Dan's bait. But I will continue to enjoy how riled you get when you do. Seriously, this kills me. Like a pit bull would, I suppose.
23
@4 and 10: Aye.
24
Burlap sack and a river agreeable @10 & @23?
25
@24 - You would contaminate the water supply, and someone could use that sack for something, it'd be a shame to waste it.
26
Let's get some alternatives on the table @25.
27
@1, I'm sorry, are you suggesting that these zoo lions, tigers and cheetahs could be or should be RETURNED TO THE WILD? And @13, are you suggesting that your experience with house cats is somehow relevant?
28
Dan, I love you, man but sometimes you're a real asshole. Of course, I can be too so I get it...but I'm going to have to agree that you're comparing apples to oranges again.

Regarding this particular story, on the way in to work there was a quick blurb about this on NPR (too quick, IMO) and I was actually SHOCKED that they are shooting to kill rather than shooting with tranquilizers and relocating the animals to a wildlife preserve somewhere. I know these are crazy dangerous animals and we need to protect the public STAT but I just didn't think killing was the first course of action anymore, in general but especially not Bengal fucking Tigers! Holy shit! Very, very surprising to me.
29
It's like blaming Dr. Frakenstein's moster for being so monstrous and not the Dr. for making an abomination.
30
The advice I give big cats is the same I give anyone in the execution-happy United States - run for the border!

Oh, and send me back some Freedom when you get there ...
31
@27 Yes, and yes. If house cats were the size of their ancestors (about the size of a pit bull ironically) they'd be on the "let's ban them list". They like to bite and scratch, drawing blood from humans, even in the lightest of moods, to them it's play or self defense. If it was "ill tempered" for how a dog breed behaves, felines are a million times more "ill tempered", especially considering how often their play is much like their hunting, violent, very very violent. So yeah, it is parallel to pit bulls in many ways. If a cat can be trained not to harm the skin of a human during play or self defense, any animal can.
32
Some of my best friends are Pit Bulls.
33
Dan you're such a fucking troll.

But yeah, this was funny.
34
I'm a huge fan, but this satire misses the mark. You are comparing people to animals in a way that's offensive, and you should apologize. Using King's quote with a dog face? Man, what are you saying? Terrible!
35
Hey Dan!

When does the ACLU beatdown of Alice high School begin?
36
@29 Doc Frankenstein needs to be prosecuted, but the monster, at the very least, needs to be in protective custody for the rest of his natural life, and steps need to be taken to ensure no one builds more monsters.
37
@ 31, if housecats are killing people at the rates that pit bulls are, the comparison is valid. If not, then it's not.
38
@28, my friend was a zookeeper at the Bronx Zoo for nearly 6 years. Snow leopards were the only, I repeat ONLY, large carnivore that was not on the "shot to kill" list if it should escape. Every single other large carnivore in the zoo will be killed by zoo personnel if it escapes and cannot be safely and easily captured. Tigers are especially dangerous and chances shouldn't be taken when public safety is in question, endangered species or not.
39
@14 is right, shut up already, just shut up.
41
@38 Isn't it as easy to shoot with a tranquilizer gun as it is with a handgun, though? Just more work on the backend when they then have to get the animal loaded up and shipped to a preserve (or zoo). Of course, I have no experience with guns of any kind so perhaps I'm quite wrong.
42
@41, if tranquilizers worked instantly then maybe. But tranqs take time, sometimes 30+ minutes. A grizzly that's angry about being SHOT but is not yet sedated is un-fucking-believably dangerous. However, if you put a bullet through its brain it's not so dangerous and rampage-y. Same goes for lions and tigers.
43
Birds are the dangerous creatures. Did you see what those evil fuckers did to Tippi Hedren's character, even Hitchcock gave them their own damn movie? Them bitches are scarier than sharks.
44
Much like dogs, Frankenstein's monster only turned violent because he was abused and neglected.
45
Your sarcastic straw-man polemics do not improve this situation in any way, Dan.
46
Six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, 18 tigers and two wolves were killed by authorities.

Six animals were caught and transported to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium: one grizzly bear, three leopards and two macaques (a breed of monkey).

One animal remains loose: a monkey that is carrying the Herpes B virus.

47
Humans are the most dangerous animals on the planet and kill and maim more humans than any other species.

Further, we are fracking up our planet so badly that soon she will make it uninhabitable for us. Why do you think the powers that be are spending shitloads of $ on space exploration to find somewhere else to fly their elite asses to?

Don't think soon? Google "ocean acidification" and look up about the methane trapped under the artic ice.
48
Honestly, Dan, this old hobby horse is splintering into your ass you've been riding it so much.

It's old, it's boring, and its offensive to those of us who like animals.

Have your boyfriend help you remove the ass-splinters and stick to what you're good at: sex and relationship advice.
49
HA HA. Silly me. I didn't realize this was Dan continuing his fucking pit bull debate until I read the comments, at which point it became obvious. Dan at his asshole best.

I foolishly thought he was being sincere, but honestly I don't think Dan has much empathy for animals or the non-urban world.

Anyway, I was going to say that capturing all these animals would be outrageously expensive, even if there were zoos or sanctuaries that would take them. And as noted by the former zookeeper, big cats are frickin' dangerous.
18 tigers??!! shit. no way one guy was giving proper care to these animals.

Glad they were able to save some of them.
50
The owner should burn somewhere for condemning his animals to be hunted down and killed, spending their last few days in confusion capped with terror.
51
There's really nothing else to be done. Tranquilizer darts don't work like you would think from the movies: they're hard to use, inaccurate to shoot, and not reliably effective. A friend of mine tranqs grizzlies in Alaska for the government, and he's had them wake up while he works on them. Pretty scary shit. And the police in Ohio are not experienced wildlife professionals. They did try to tranq one of the tigers, but it did not work effectively and they wound up having to shoot it as well. Given the extremely unfortunate situation that the clearly unbalanced owner put everyone in, lethal control really is the best option. Jack Hanna has even made a statement to that effect.
52
If they're shooting monkeys, I hope it's not the flying kind. They do so come in handy from time to time.
53
Some dude in Ohio had domesticated lions and tigers and cheetahs that have been genetically distinct from their wild cousins for 10,000-100,000 years and have been selectively bred for thousands of years to be obedient to humans? Fucking sweet, where can I get one?
54
Fuck you, Dan. You and all the other people commenting here about how horrible pit bulls are, and how they should be banned, sound like uneducated idiots. You sound exactly like someone telling you that you will burn in hell for being gay, they have lots of "evidence" too. Go read a book about pit bulls, you like to do that for your causes! Go talk to Cesar Milan. Just go look into it before you spout your bigoted bullshit. You and all the other assholes above that agree with you. You can all move to a deserted island and ban pit bulls there. But my girl, who is 10 years old, and perfect, will stay right here with me. Don't be a jackass (anymore), go talk about something you have some knowledge of, like sex.
55
@50, I will entertain the intellectual construct of a hell just so I can imagine this guy burning in it.

I know suicides aren't really in their right minds and they almost always cause mental suffering in those who knew them, but something about killing or guaranteeing the physical agony of other beings in the course of their self-destruction convinces me that those who do such things were never sane to begin with.
56
@54:R Right on. 'Nuff said.

57
@50 & @55, the owner is not the real problem. The real problem is Ohio's lack of regulation of exotic-pet ownership:
Ohio has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them.

Ohio is one of fewer than 10 states with no regulation of exotic animals, said Jeff Kremer, of the Big Cat Rescue in Tampa. He said 18 states have banned private ownership of big cats. Ten states have partial bans. Thirteen states require the owner to register the animal. Ohio is not one of them.

"You can buy anything you want in Ohio," and the state is "simply full to the brim with exotic animal breeders," said April Truitt, executive director and founder of the Primate Rescue Center in Nicholasville, Ky.

Truitt and operators of animal shelters in other neighboring states say they often are called to pick up animals in the Buckeye State, or animals brought home from auctions operating in Ohio near the state's borders.

Joe Taft, founder of the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, Ind., said he often fields calls from Ohio and hears about Hoosiers traveling to Ohio auctions near the border.

Even though federal law bans interstate transport of these animals except in certain circumstances, it's ill-enforced, Truitt said.
58
@55: I know, right? It's like people who intentionally Take The Only Way Out by downing a bottle of hooch and going for a drive, often taking others to their reward as well.
59
Nice one, Dan. It's a perfectly good comparison.

Animals with potentially lethal strength, teeth, claws and instincts—no matter how "nice" they are, or how well trained—are too dangerous to be in uncontrolled contact with the public.
60
Our Democratic Governor Strickland enacted legislation that banned the buying and selling of exotic animals. It didn't have a lot of teeth, because no funding or method of enforcement went along with it. It was part of an agreement with the Humane Society. They were about to put an issue that would have enforced humane treatment of farm animals on the ballot.

Our new Republican Governor John Kass-itch let the legislation expire. Can't have any restrictions on the free trade, small gubment and all that shit.

No doubt this dude had all those animals before the legislation though. I like to entertain the thought of his hell being slowly eaten alive forever by all the animals he had that were killed because of him.
61
I also agree with the comments regarding Dan being a bigoted asshole about the pits, and the sentiment that he should stick to sex advice. Ban pits and they'll breed other breeds to be agressive - like maybe Great Danes.

It took seven generations to breed people-friendly foxes, and seven generations to bree super agressive ones. It can take less than ten years to breed that many generations of dogs. Think about it, Danny.
62
Pit bulls are like hand grenades...way too dangerous to be available to the general public. It doesn't matter how nice they can be, because when they snap they are lethal. Not the dogs' fault, I agree, just like it's not the grenades fault, but that doesn't mean you should be able to have one.

And to the assholes who let pit bulls run free all over public parks filled with children, get a different breed and some common sense, you selfish, callous dicks.

63
Really, Dan? You're just trolling your own readers now.

@5: Don't go there: fighting-dog breeds were/are selected for aggression, which just supports Dan's point on banning pit bulls.
64
@59, that would be every domesticated cat and dog in existence. Cats and dogs of all sizes can and do kill human beings. There are multiple human fatalities caused by small breed dogs in the U.S. every year.
65
@64 who would you rather be stuck in a cage with...an angry poodle or an angry pit bull? If you can't see why pit bulls are more dangerous than tabby cats, you need a brain. The amount of pit bull attacks and fatalities is staggering, as is your willful ignorance on the topic.
66
Actually, pit bull attacks and particularly pit bull fatalities are quite rare, especially as related to their population and their relative incidence among other types of violent attacks or accidents and other types of fatalities. And as both a poodle and a pit bull are perfectly capable of maiming or killing me in short order, I choose to be in a cage with an angry version of neither.

Regardless, your above criteria includes, as I said, all domesticated cats and dogs. If you don't like the practical application of your criteria (and in light of your flagrant misinformation in this more recent comment), I'd say you might want to take a closer look at your own ignorance on this topic.
67
Maybe you are confusing me with someone else, as I didn't offer any 'criteria'. In any case, pit bull breeds and rottweilers are definitely responsible for a disproportionate number of fatalities:

http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statist…
http://dogbitelaw.com/dog-bite-statistic…

Sorry you are afraid of poodles.
68
Lol, I'm not afraid of poodles. But at up to 70 pounds with large jaws and the specification that they're angry, I'm not sure why you think I wouldn't avoid being caged with one, but it makes me continue to question your knowledge of dogs, dogs safety, and dog behavior.

No, even going on flawed numbers (those not being accepted as comprehensive my most authorities on dogs and dog behavior, spotty reporting and misreporting being common), Rottweilers and pit bull "types," pure and mixed breed dogs of everything from mastiff to bull dog to boxer being commonly misidentified with the meaningless label "pit bull type," are responsible for a disproportionate number of fatalities. That still doesn't make the total number of them or of dog fatalities in general "staggering." It makes them very rare, especially as compared to the number of dogs in the country, even breed by breed, and as compared to other types of fatalities. So you're mistaken.
69
I'm starting to agree with conclusion that these animals must have been being kept in such large numbers for captive exotic animal hunting, with the collusion of powerful people in Ohio. This guy had no serious documented income and paying for keeping animals like this is outrageously expensive. An illegal means of paying seems very likely, but the initial news is skirting around this question in their coverage.

Dan: fuck you for turning a real issue about the keeping of wild animals in captivity into a bull shit discussion about pit bulls and poodles.

70
Dan, I think you're mistaken. Of course certain kinds of dogs (animals) can be more dangerous (if they get angry or are badly treated), so it's necessary to be careful about them. But if the possibility of fatality were the only factor to consider, then cars should be illegal in the US, right?

Good, real assessments of the danger, as in "what are the average conditions under which dogs (of all types) are raised?" and "what is the (statistically measured) risk of attacks (with or without fatal resutls)?".

Then a discussion of proposed solutions, and their proposed impacts (with research to back them up if possible).

Isn't this how one makes rational choices in policies that affect others? Or do we go with our gut feelings? If so, the bigots will love to know.
71
Gee Dan. Couldn't the exact same logic be applied to pit bulls?

You really are just a nasty little troll.
72
Okay, if we're using the logic of "a few killers makes a whole type of creature bad", then lemme mention something. Two somethings, actually.

Jeffery Dahmer.

John Wayne Gacy.

Each one was gay. Each one murdered several people in horrible ways.

OMG!! THAT MEANS ALL GAY PEOPLE MUST BE SUPER DANGEROUS AND SHOULD BE BANNED!!! OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! KEEP DA SCARY GAY PPL AWAY FROM MEEEEEEEE!!!!

Seriously, Dan... GIVE IT A REST.

Please wait...

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