May you all rest in peace.

In these days and ages, disturbing events became a way of life.

A few weeks ago, a backyard zoo keeper committed suicide on his farm in Zanesville, Ohio.

It appears the deceased fancied wildcats, particularly the exotic ones. At the time of his death, there were 56 wild animals, 18 of them belong to an endangerd species, were kept on the farm. Since there are no laws in the State of Ohio ban ownership of exotic pets, this lush and seemingly peaceful pasture became homes to Bengal tigers, lions, leopards, both black and grizzly bears and monkeys.

For whatever the reason that prompted this one of a kind cat fancier to release these foreign animals before he shot and killed himself to unfamiliar grounds, the consequence of letting unpredictable animals, wild or tamed, loose into populated area is not hard to predict. But it is difficult to understand why anyone would put these innocent animals at great risks. Now fifty of these beautiful creatures met their untimely death. One monkey is still at large. And only five of the fifty-six are in the care of a local zoo.

Unfortunately, no one would ever know if the horrific outcome of this preventable tragedy will lessen our desires of owning a wild animal as a pet. While more government interventions on protecting animals, both local and not local ones, may hinder this cruel and objectionable incident to repeat, we, the people, holders of the highest rung on the evolution ladder, must think of the pain and suffering these wild creatures have to endure when they are being uprooted from their native habitat.

Perhaps to love them is to leave them at where they are. - Ayee