Local Sheriff Stumped by Twitter's 140 Character Limit as Wild Animals Roam the Streets
Local Sheriff Stumped by Twitter's 140 Character Limit as Wild Animals Roam the Streets
Posted 10/21/2011 at 6:32am
| by Paul Lilly
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It's not uncommon for local law enforcement to use social networking tools to keep the public informed, especially in times of emergencies. But when Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz logged into Twitter after dozens of dangerous animals broke free from an Ohio reserve, he apparently forgot about the 140-character limit and left citizens wondering what to do if they spot a lion, tiger, bear, or even a wolf. Oh my!
"***ALERT**** Several wild exotic animals have got loose of captivity in the area of Kopchak Rd and Interstate 70. Citizens in that area...," Lutz tweeted.
Should citizens in the area play dead? Sacrifice their young and save themselves? Enter into negotiations with the lion, who has been identified as leader of the wild animal pack and the mastermind behind their escape? NetworkWorld, which discovered the tweet, wonders if they should form a posse.
Your guess is as good as ours (and almost definitely better, but where's the fun in that?), and if you want to give it a shot, go ahead and finish the tweet in our comments section below. Hey, it beats working on a Friday, doesn't it? Plus, whoever posts the best tweet will...
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noghiri_x
October 23, 2011 at 3:38pm
***ALERT**** Several wild exotic animals have got loose of captivity in the area of Kopchak Rd and Interstate 70. Citizens in that area...
...should hide inside and board up their doors and windows and wait for this to become someone else's problem.
Said like a true politician. :)
stradric
October 21, 2011 at 12:08pm
Twitter's 140 character limit is stupid. Who receives tweets over SMS anyway?
Caboose
October 21, 2011 at 10:39am
How long before PETA starts telling people what SHOULD have been done?
damicatz
October 21, 2011 at 8:26am
Killing the animals was the right decision. We are talking about lions and 500 pound tigers. These are not domestic household pets but wild animals.
Contrary to what is shown on television, tranquilizers do not immediately take effect. An animal that has been shot by a tranquilizer dart is going to be very upset and it will attack the first thing it sees. Once the drugs take effect, they merely reduce the aggressiveness of the animal; tranquilized animals are still very dangerous. Jack Hanna had a friend who was killed by a tranquilized tiger.
The police do not have training on rounding up dangerous exotic animals. They would have had to wait for experts to arrive who knew what they were doing. Every second those animals were out was a second people's lives were at risk. In addition, the last thing you want is an angry lion or tiger when it's dark outside because cats can see considerably better than humans in the dark. To try and tranquilize them in the dark would have not only put the lives of the public at greater risk but also the lives of the officers.
It amazes me that people continue to vilify the officers who put their lives on the line to protect the public. Yes, it's a shame that a bunch of endangered animals had to be put down, but, put the blame where it lies. Put the blame with Terry Thompson. Put the blame with the people that sold him the wild animals. And put the blame with the government, which failed to enforce their existing laws against him, laws that would have allowed them to take his animals (exotic animals may not be illegal at the state level but there are federal regulations and also county and city level laws).
Nailer669
October 21, 2011 at 7:55am
Since it was pretty close to me, I thought about getting a couple of six packs and the AR-15, but it was raining pretty hard. I didn't want to operate the spotlight in the rain.
Wingzero_x
October 21, 2011 at 5:31pm
Wow, you are going to shoot a grizzly with a 22? Yeah, that would've been a better story.
luke904
October 22, 2011 at 2:14pm
hahaha... at least get one thing strait... the ar-15 is not a "glorified .22"
.223/5.56NATO rounds are much more powerful than .22LR, though it would still definitely take more than one shot to take down a bear
chart2006
October 21, 2011 at 7:53am
The fact that they killed nearly all the animals especially since many of them are "endangered" animals their response to the situation was less than optimal. In fact I think there should be an investigation into the incident and the department fined and maybe even some jail time for the Sheriff for making the call to kill them all. How hard would it have been to tranq the animals and have them relocated??? I find it hard to believe that they didn't have any other choice than this horrendous act. It's sad!
Wingzero_x
October 21, 2011 at 5:54pm
Agreed it is sad, but to say the Sheriff acted irresponibily is short sighted to say the least. Seriously hate to break it to you, but contralily what you see on Wild Kingdom, tranquilizing an animal is bit more involved. Also factor in the fact that there really isn't a whole lot of tranq guns anyway and I highly doubt they are that acurate, and they can easily be knocked off target by wind, rain, tree limbs, etc. All of which were present.
And don't forget we are talking about rural Ohio, so there was going to be children out there waiting for school buses, walking to school...etc. Also what would you think would happen if they allowed this to go on as the time needed to tranq the animals...your average citizen would start arming themselves, and shooting at anything that moves. And as you can see by another poster they would bring their glorified 22s against a 500lb cat that blends in grass, and can leap 20 feet.
So blame the person who kept those animals, and the Governor who let previous laws lapse that allowed that person to keep these animals.
BTW PETA has said that the Sheiff acted accordingly and the true blame goes to the state of Ohio's lax laws concerning people keeping these animals.
Of course I agree with one of our local radio personalities. We should start charging people coming into the stae $4 per car to see "Ohio: America's Safari."
Caboose
October 21, 2011 at 10:38am
And cops should always shoot the suspect in the arm or leg too right?
MrSelatcia
October 21, 2011 at 8:40am
The sheriff did his job, which is to protect the public, in the best way he could. I would have liked to have seen the animals tranqed as well, but it wasn't really feasible given the circumstances. Your proposed investigation *should* be on whoever allowed this guy to house this many wild animals in the first place. 50 large animals are going to take a TON of cash to feed properly. Seriously, 18+ tigers? I hope the city has a good attorney ready to defend them allowing this.
Wingzero_x
October 21, 2011 at 7:46am
Sorry, nothing funny about 50 innocent animals having to be killed among which 18 Bengal Tigers.
yackman01
October 21, 2011 at 7:36am
sit back relax, chill with a cup of coffee because the end of the world is coming anyway according to the myans.
jewellrobj
October 21, 2011 at 7:06am
Being it is October 21, 2011 and Harold camps says the world is supposed to end later today.
Citizen in that area should remain calm as we will all be dead by the end of the day.
yackman01
October 21, 2011 at 6:59am
pull out their bows and arrows or guns and prepare for a great bbq.
Marthian
October 21, 2011 at 7:06am
unless there's less than three, you better start running and gunning.
if there's like 10 or more, your life is pretty much over.
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