Week in Review - Lots of Ups and Downs

This week has been an emotional roller coaster for everyone at In-Sync Exotics.  We started the week with highlights from our 1st annual “Putting for Paws” Charity Golf Tournament held last week.  Thanks to some amazing golfers, donors, and sponsors we were able to raise $7,035 for the animals!

Tuesday was our weekly Who Am I contest!  This contest recognizes our animal residents, giving our readers an opportunity to learn more about their amazing stories.  We had one correct guess to the Who Am I contest—Amanda W! Way to go Amanda! To learn more about our amazing animals, please visit our Resident web page and brush up on the cats’ stories so you can correctly identify the next cat featured in our Who Am I contest!

We also provided our readers an update on Eve’s spay surgery that she underwent on Monday.  Dr. Kerian and Dr. Wallance found a mass, about the size of an orange on her uterus.  The mass was removed and tested to see if the mass was malignant.  We are still waiting for the biopsy report.  So that makes two lionesses saved by spay surgery!  If you would like to contribute to the lionesses’ surgery costs, please visit our donation page!

On Wednesday, Round 2 of the Roar Off competition featuring The Poetry Girls and The White Boys was posted and voting was brisk for several hours, until news reached us of the tragic events at Terry Thompson’s farm outside Zanesville, OH.  The animal world was rocked by the news that 49 animals -- 18 tigers, 17 lions, 6 black bears, 2 grizzly bears, 3 mountain lions, 2 wolves and 1 baboon were shot and killed after the owner, Terry Thompson, 62, released the animals from their enclosures and then committed suicide.  Six animals (1 grizzly bear, 3 leopards and 2 monkeys) were safely captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo. That left one non-human primate still on the loose.

Each day brings new details to this horrific situation.  The Washington Post reports today that according to court records, Thompson and his wife owed at least $68,000 in unpaid federal and county taxes, and had two federal liens filed against him in 2010.  It appears that Thompson took in so many animals that he was way “in over his head.”

We may never know why Thompson did what he did, but we can work towards strengthening animal abuse laws to ensure that this type of tragedy never happens again.

Final results of Round 2 of the Roar Off competition will be announced on Monday, thereby giving folks one more day to vote for the “Loudest Roarer!"

If you have not seen the Cheetah boys give one another a bath, you may want to check out their video that was posted on Wednesday!  As a reminder, we are still fundraising for the cheetahs’ new home, so if you would like to donate towards this project, please visit our special Razoo donation page.

Now that the weather is cooling down, our cats are having a great time running and playing.  You have got to make plans to visit us this weekend!  You can learn more about our tours by visiting our Tours webpage.

And finally, as a reminder, if you have not registered for our 3^rd Annual Tiger Trot, now is the time to do so!  To register, please visit our event page.  All registered runners and walkers will receive a free t-shirt, water bottle, and the children will have access to the bounce house!  We hope to see you soon!

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In-Sync Exotics Editorial: The Zanesville, Ohio Tragedy

Yesterday we woke up to the horrific news that 56 exotic animals were released from their cages Tuesday evening from Terry Thompson’s farm outside Zanesville, OH, and the owner later committed suicide in his home.

As of Wednesday afternoon, authorities reported killing 49 animals -- 18 tigers, 17 lions, 6 black bears, 2 grizzly bears, 3 mountain lions, 2 wolves and a baboon.

Six animals (1 grizzly bear, 3 leopards and 2 monkeys) were safely captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo. That left one non-human primate still on the loose.

Animal-related Facebook pages were quick to blame authorities for killing so many animals instead of using tranquilizer darts. Animal Rights groups were quick to denounce private “exotic” pet ownership.

Often times, snap emotional judgments are made without hearing the facts of the case. For instance, as horrible as it was for the law enforcement officers to shoot these magnificent animals in the dark, they essentially had no choice—human safety must come first.

Can you just image the 911 emergency calls made to the local police department that Tuesday evening? One such call came from the mother whose son lives near the Thompson’s farm reporting that her son saw lions and bears running free and that a tiger was chasing her son’s horse! Thankfully the horse was saved and placed in the owner’s barn.

Law enforcement officers were forced to search for escaped animals in the dark—a very dangerous venture because some of these big cats and bears weighed in excess of 300lbs and were extremely aggressive! The officers could not wait until daylight because allowing the animals to escape into other communities could have resulted in the loss of human life.

In-Sync Exotics believes that shooting an escaped dangerous animal should be the last resort for containing this type of emergency situation. Sadly, tranquilizing drugs take about 15 minutes or so to take affect; that's a long time for an animal to run and hide until the drugs wear off, so it can eventually resume its escape for freedom. Also, folks need to remember that an exotic animal living in captivity does not have the natural fear of humans and will often approach people looking for food and shelter. This makes an escaped exotic animal doubly dangerous to a local community.

In-sync Exotics also believes that anyone who has a record of abusing animals should not be allowed to maintain them as pets. Ohio law enforcement officers admitted they have had numerous problems with Mr. Thompson in the past, including animal cruelty violations, and yet no agency stepped in to save the 56 exotic animals. In-Sync Exotics advocates strengthening animal abuse laws, thereby preventing animal abusers from owning exotics as pets. Sadly, this horrible situation could have been prevented if there were laws on the books that protected the animals from their abuser.

So now we mourn the loss of 49 beautiful animals that died needlessly. It is our goal to continually speak out for those animals that cannot do so. We hope that we can garner your support in our effort to bring to light those instances where animals are being abused, so we can stop tragic situations, such as the loss of the 49 Ohio exotic animals, from ever happening in the first place.

In-Sync Exotics' response to questions about how safe is our sanctuary:  WFAA  CBSDFW  NBCDFW

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Cheetah Bath!

Late Monday night we were surprised by a torrential downpour that lasted a couple of hours.  Some of our animals were not happy with the heavy rain, like Sabu, who refused to come out of his shelter.  Other animals, like our cheetahs boys, sat on their porch, enjoying the sounds, smells, and sight of the long awaited rain.

After spending a few minutes watching the rain, Kodi and Sam returned to their warm climate controlled house where they ate their dinner, groomed each other, and then went to bed, listening to the soft pitter patter sounds of rain hitting their roof.

Help Sam and Kodi move into their new home by contributing towards their Home Improvement Project!


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