Exotic animal reforms are expected in Ohio

Zanesville release that resulted in a slaughter  prompts strict proposal.

The Columbus Zoo has three leopards that were captured after a Zanesville man released more than 50 exotic animals in October.

Grahm Jones/File photo The Columbus Zoo has three leopards that were captured after a Zanesville man released more than 50 exotic animals in October.

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By Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Bureau 8:44 PM Sunday, December 11, 2011

COLUMBUS — Next year, Ohio could swing from zero regulation on exotic animal ownership to imposing stringent regulations in the near term and an outright ban beginning in 2014.

Terry Thompson’s troubling actions on Oct. 18 in Zanesville probably forever changed how the state views private ownership of exotic pets.

Ohio currently does no monitoring or mapping of who keeps dangerous wild animals in their homes, and there is no coordinated attempt to keep track of animal escapes or attacks.

But when Thompson set free 56 lions, tigers, bears and other dangerous wild animals before committing suicide in his driveway, it made news around the world and shined a spotlight on Ohio’s hands-off approach to exotic animal ownership. What had been a low-priority issue for the Kasich administration became white hot after Muskingum County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed 49 animals to keep them from escaping into the community, and the public demanded steps to ensure that such action never have to be taken again.

Two-hundred letters and more than 16,500 emails flooded the governor’s office, all supporting tighter regulations. Another 108,000 emails came from an online petition push from change.org urging stricter laws. The administration received just 20 emails and letters from opponents of stricter regulations, saying they didn’t want to lose their animals.

A task force delivered recommendations Nov. 30. They call for:

• Banning casual ownership of dangerous wild animals by Jan. 1, 2014. The ban would prohibit keeping chimpanzees, pythons, alligators, lions, grizzly bears or other dangerous wild animals in any setting except accredited zoos, research facilities and circuses;

• Naming the Ohio Department of Agriculture as the lead regulatory agency;

• Developing rules on care, confinement and security until the ban takes effect;

• Requiring animal registration within 60 days of the bill becoming law. Animals held privately after the ban takes effect would be subject to confiscation.

Gov. John Kasich’s press secretary, Rob Nichols, said the bill, which is now being drafted, will be based on the recommendations.

Nichols said the administration is confident that owners who care about their animals will make alternate arrangements for their care between when the bill passes and a ban takes effect.

“If you don’t give people enough time, they’ll either kill them or release them. There are no easy answers in this. At the end of the day, of fundamental importance is that we protect public health and safety,” Nichols said.

Animal rights advocates say the regulations can’t come soon enough. Animal owners, however, see the crackdown as a heavy-handed, unnecessary and unfair response to what Thompson did in Zanesville.

“You can’t punish everybody for something one person does. It is an isolated incident, totally,” said Robert Sawmiller, who keeps bears, coyotes, wolves and big cats on his property near Wapakoneta. Sawmiller said he makes a living exhibiting the animals across the country.

“There are a whole lot of people who have never had an escape, never had anyone get hurt, never had any problem whatsoever,” he said.

Sean Trimbach, who breeds and sells exotic animals at his home in Medway, said he is considering a move to Texas if the law passes.

“My wife and I both grew up here, in Englewood and Huber Heights,” he said. “But it makes more sense to continue doing what I enjoy and what I’m good at than to stay and have somebody tell me I can’t do it anymore.”

But Trimbach, whose enclosures house large snakes, bears and foxes, said he supports regulation to a point. Not everyone who keeps exotic animals is willing to open up their property so others can see what is there, he acknowledged, which can lead to problems.

“We have a plan about what to do if something were to happen, either to me or to the house,” he said. “They (local firefighters) went through and took photographs of what they needed to know. ... I think everyone should do that. I know the majority of people who have these animals don’t.”

Dangerous encounters

Even before the Zanesville debacle, Ohio had a number of dangerous encounters involving the public and privately owned wild animals.

The Humane Society of the United States has a five-page list of escapes, maulings and fatalities since 2000 in Ohio, culled from news accounts and police reports. The list includes: a pet grivet monkey escaped, scratched three children and led police on a three-hour chase through a Fremont neighborhood; a captive black bear fatally mauled a 24-year-old handler in Columbia Station; a 10-year-old girl was attacked by a pet cougar kept by a family friend in Lisbon; a 500-pound pet black bear was shot to death after it attacked a sheriff’s deputy in Mount Gilead; a 550-pound pet lion escaped and chased passing cars in Pike County; a black bear bit off a 4-year-old’s finger at his grandfather’s wildlife ranch in Uhrichsville; an escaped 500-pound bear in Ashtabula County broke into a woman’s home and attacked her; and in 2003, a Dayton firefighter who collected snakes and lizards died after being bitten by an African rhino viper.

The list also includes several reports of police finding abandoned pythons and boa constrictors in public.

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