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The Dayton Daily News has covered the issue of exotic animals extensively. We will continue to follow the issue closely and bring you the latest news as it develops.
At least two owners of wild, exotic animals in the area say they are moving or closing their facilities in response to stringent new state requirements.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture has sent warning letters to owners of wild animals who failed to complete applications for newly-required wildlife shelter permits.
Warning letters were sent to Daniel Chambers of Germantown, Sean Trimbach in Medway and Kord McGuire in West Alexandria, according to a department spokeswoman.
There is just one permit holder now in the Dayton area, said Erica Hawkins, an Ohio Department of Agriculture spokesman.
State law after Jan. 1, 2014 requires Ohioans who own “dangerous wild animals” — owners who do not intend to breed those animals — to apply for a permit for a wildlife shelter.
Concern over the issue was triggered by an October 2011 Zanesville incident in which an owner released 56 exotic animals before committing suicide. Law enforcement officers ended up killing 48 of those animals.
In the wake of that, the state passed a law barring private ownership of certain species. Current owners were required to register their animals and meet certain standards as long as the current animals live.
Trimbach — who has a farm off of Lake Road in Clark County’s Bethel Twp. — said Monday he is moving to Texas because he can’t afford the $500,000 insurance liability policy Ohio requires of owners like him.
“They have a permit system in place, that’s been in place for a number of years that’s worked very well for them,” Trimbach said. “I can get all the permitting I need down there for $80 a year.”
Texas does not require insurance for venomous reptiles, he said. “I’ll have to have a homeowners’ policy, but not the half-a-million-dollar liability policy the state of Ohio requires.”
A $500,000 liability policy would cost him $15,000 a year, he said.
Trimbach said he has received the Department of Agriculture’s letter, but it no longer matters.
“Actually, just yesterday, we moved everything out of the state that was of concern,” he said. “We have some non-venomous snakes, but it’s nothing covered by the law.”
“We’re in the process of moving,” he added. “As soon as we can get our property sold, we’re moving down to Texas.”
Trimbach said his animals are today at a “friend’s facility” in Indiana. “It’s not open to the public or anything,” he said.
Trimbach’s “Best Exotics” Facebook page says he offers “captive-born venomous and non-venomous reptiles and small exotic mammals.”
McGuire, owner of Heaven’s Corner Z00 and Sanctuary, said he too will close his wildlife sanctuary in West Alexandria. He said he has a U.S. Department of Agriculture permit, but he is not exempt from state requirements.
“That’s it. So we’re done,” McGuire said Monday. “We’re shut down. Our livelihood and everything, done and gone. The whole thing. Twenty-five years of building this, and it’s over.”
Kate Dylewsky, a program associate with Washington, D.C.-based Born Free USA, called Ohio’s requirements on animal ownership “a landmark bill.”
“These animals simply do not belong in private homes,” Dylewsky said. “These are animals that have natural instincts and behaviors that cannot be happy in private homes.”
No one was hurt that day in Zanesville, but the danger remains, she added. “This makes the job of law enforcement really difficult. They have no idea where or when they might be called in to respond to a situation where one of these animals have escaped or hurt someone.”
Dylewsky’s organization tracks and examines zoos, unaccredited zoos, and ownership and trade of exotic animals. It also campaigns against trapping and hunting.
“Our motto is keep wildlife wild,” she said.
Tim Harrison, director and founder of the Springboro-based Outreach for Animals, consulted for Ohio legislators as they shaped the law. He said the law is key for first-responders who may not know what’s on a resident’s property.
“It’s always the cops and the firemen who are the first people on the scene,” Harrison said. “It’s not the zoo or animal people.”
He said he is also helping write national laws that would not allow private citizens to breed certain dangerous animals in or near their homes.
“Isn’t that crazy? You can’t breed tigers and big cats in your back yard,” Harrison said.
McGuire, however, questions the application of Ohio’s law.
“They were supposed to go after, like, John Doe down the road, who has a 500-pound tiger in the living room with two kids,” he said. “Which is fine. I believe in that.”
He said his facility had more than 13,000 visitors in four months. Now, he said, all of his big cats are gone. He said the U.S. Department of Agriculture took them, but he’s not certain where. His bears remain in Preble County, and he will have to find new homes for them.
“We can’t do anything right now,” McGuire said. “We have no money. We always opened in the second week of April. There’s no money coming in. We’re done. The bills are piling up.”
Without big cats and bears, he has no attraction that will draw paying customers, he said.
“I’m standing here looking in the gift shop,” he said. “Everything in here is almost gone, except for stuffed toys and knick-knacks.”
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