COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio lawmaker is proposing that
owners of exotic animals be subjected to background checks and required
to fence their property — measures supporters say might have saved
dozens of lions, tigers, and other wild creatures that were shot by
authorities months ago after their suicidal owner let them loose.
Legislation
introduced Thursday would ban new ownership of exotic animals in the
state and immediately prohibit people from acquiring new or additional
dangerous wildlife.
Ohio has some of the nation’s weakest
restrictions on exotic pets. Efforts to strengthen state law took on new
urgency in October when authorities were forced to hunt down and kill
48 wild animals — including endangered Bengal tigers — after their owner
freed them from his Zanesville farm and then committed suicide.
State
Sen. Troy Balderson, a Zanesville Republican, said owner Terry Thompson
would not have passed the background check in his bill for an ownership
permit because Thompson had been convicted of a felony. Thompson had
spent time in federal prison for possessing unregistered weapons.
If
Balderson’s legislation becomes law, owners with felony convictions
would be ineligible for special state permits to possess wild animals.
Balderson
told The Associated Press that he has tried to find a balance that
protects the public and the rights of property owners.
"There are
good people out there that do this," Balderson said in a telephone
interview. "I don’t want to have a knee-jerk reaction, and overreact to
something that happened that was very unfortunate."
"The animals didn’t get out, they were let out," Balderson added.
The governor and Columbus Zoo support his plan.
Owners
of lions, tigers and other large animals such as elephants and
crocodiles would be banned in 2014 from keeping the creatures unless
they acquired a wildlife shelter permit from the state. They would have
to meet new caging requirements, obtain insurance, microchip the animals
and adhere to strict care standards. Owners also would have to register
their animals within 60 days of the law’s effective date.
Zoos, circuses, sanctuaries and research facilities would be exempt.
The
bill would let owners of constricting and venomous snakes keep their
reptiles, but they must have safety plans in place in case the snakes
got out. Owners could still breed and acquire new snakes.
The
proposed caretaking standards would require owners to have an
8-foot-tall perimeter fence around their property, just as zoos do.
Tom
Stalf, the Columbus Zoo’s chief operating officer, said Thompson’s farm
had a 3-foot-tall livestock fence — not high enough to prevent the
animals from running away once they were out of their cages.
"If
there were a perimeter fence in place around the facility, we would have
a better outcome," Stalf said. "It’s very possible they would have
still been contained, and we would have been able to recover them
alive."
The bill also would allow state officials to better grasp how many dangerous wild
animals and owners reside in Ohio, he said.
Stalf,
whose input was included in the bill, said the zoo has taken issue with
an exemption that would allow a northeast Ohio school to display a
dangerous wild animal as a sports mascot.
Each year, a new tiger
cub serves as the mascot for the football team at Washington High School
in Massillon. "Obie" is a 43-year-tradition, said principal Brad
Warner.
Under the legislation, the school would have to care for
the animal throughout its lifespan, obtain a $1 million insurance policy
that would cover any injuries or property damage, and confine the tiger
to a cage that does not permit physical contact.
Warner said he
wasn’t immediately sure whether the school could meet the standards, but
the booster club that pays for the cub would do what it takes to
maintain the tradition.
Celebrity zookeeper Jack Hanna has criticized Ohio lawmakers for not swiftly passing
new regulations.
Hanna,
a former Columbus Zoo director, has bristled at the idea of some owners
being allowed to keep their animals because they would be grandfathered
into any ban. A zoo spokeswoman said Hanna is supportive of the bill
overall.
The head of the Humane Society of the United States
called the measure "a vast improvement" for Ohio, but expressed concern
that it would allow people to acquire large constricting snakes and
exempt certain facilities associated with the Zoological Association of
America.
"If we want a comprehensive law covering dangerous and
exotic animals, we must fortify some portions of this proposal," said
Wayne Pacelle, the organization’s president and CEO, in a written
statement.
A hearing on Balderson’s legislation is planned for next week.
The
proposal is less strict than a framework suggested last year by a state
study committee that Gov. John Kasich convened in April.
The
group had recommended a more stringent ban on the casual ownership of
exotic animals, which called for the confiscation of any wildlife kept
by anyone lacking the proper licenses or exemptions in 2014.
Kasich
spokesman Rob Nichols said Thursday the administration had reached an
agreement with the Senate on Balderson’s proposal, and the governor is
comfortable with it. He said in an email the new standards couldn’t be
met by casual owners of exotic wildlife, a group he said is more
inclined to have problems with the dangerous animals.
"It’s
admittedly not everything we sought or that the working group
recommended, but it’s most of it and such a huge improvement from where
Ohio has been that the governor is comfortable moving forward," Nichols
said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.