Exotic Pet Owners May Face New Regulations

Ohio is one of 11 states with no laws regulating the ownership of exotic animals. But a new bill has been introduced to change that.

"When you go through the list of the animals or reptiles that people keep, I was astonished," said state Rep. George Distel D-Ashtabula.

Currently in Ohio, anyone can own a lion, tiger, bear or other unconventional pet without a license from the state. But some pet owners are licensed by the United States
Department of Agriculture, or USDA, like the Butternut Farm Wildcat Sanctuary outside Columbus.

Among her collection, owner Carol Bohning counts "eight cougars, seven bobcats, two lynx. We have two cuatamundis. We have a wolf, a timberwolf, and we have a little red fox that was rescued."

Bohning said she takes every precaution outlined by the USDA and goes one step further.

"USDA requires us to have an 8-foot perimeter fence," she said.

But Distel started looking into Ohio's exotic animal pet laws after one of his constituents was attacked by a neighbor's pet -- a 500-pound bear. Rachel Supplee opened her front door one day to the bear, which bit her, broke her ribs and bruised a lung. She did not even know that her neighbor owned a bear.

"When I had seen what the state law requires for licensing to have wild or exotic animals, I found that it was very lax," said Distel. "All it required was a payment of $35. They came out and inspected you once, and they gave you a permit."

Because Ohio's laws are lax, more of these exotic animals are making their way into the state, and sometimes those animals escape. Sightings of mountain lions, monkeys, pythons and even alligators have been reported to police in Ohio.

In December, Ted Dres, of Symmes Township, was killed when his 11-foot python wrapped itself around his neck. While these attacks are rare, they are getting the attention of lawmakers like Distel. He introduced a bill this month to regulate dangerous exotic animals.

Distel said the bill includes, "insurance and liability requirements, setback requirements from neighbors, signage so people know these places exist."

Bohning said the cost of insurance would put her nonprofit sanctuary out of business, and she fears signs could attract animal rights groups attempting to release her animals. She is also worried that increased regulation by the state will put exotic animals in danger.

"Some states have gone and passed outright ban laws in which case a lot of the animals end up getting euthanized, because people have to get rid of them," Bohning said. "The sanctuaries are full."

Bohning added that many of the animals in her sanctuary were once pets that were more than people could handle after awhile. Zoos are not interested in them, and they cannot be released to the wild because they were raised by humans.

Distel said that his bill is not meant to ban ownership of exotic animals but to encourage pet owners to be more responsible.