Change in law leads Ohio to end wild-animal panels
Boards were set up in response to 2011 Zanesville incident.
Two state COLUMBUS — panels involved in establishing regulations for the private ownership of dangerous wild animals will soon cease to exist under changes in state law approved by legislators and signed by Gov. John Kasich late last year.
The Dangerous and Restricted Animals Advisory Board and the Dangerous Wild Animals State Emergency Response Commission are among more than a dozen panels that will be abolished as of Feb. 20. Changes being enacted as part of the law also eliminate mandatory emergency-response groups and plans at the local level.
The animal boards were part of a larger state law that came in response to an October 2011 incident in Zanesville in which Muskingum County deputies and state wildlife officers were forced to kill dozens of tigers, bears, lions and other animals released from their cages by their suicidal owner.
State officials said the two panels and the mandatory county plans have served their purpose and are no longer needed.
“We have everything in place, and we feel it’s time to sunset it,” said Sen. Troy Balderson, the Zanesville Republican who sponsored the original legislation regulating dangerous wild-animal ownership in Ohio and who served on the advisory board. “Everything that we wanted to implement was implemented. There’s really no reason for us to meet anymore.”
The state’ dangerous wild-animal law was signed into law in June 2012 and put restrictions on private ownership as of January 2014. Lawmakers initially considered banning private ownership of grizzly bears, hippos and other species, but the resulting legislation allowed owners to keep existing animals as long as they completed a new permitting process and met caging and other standards.
State law includes separate requirements for the ownership and propagation of reptiles and restricted snakes.
The setup was designed to eventually end private ownership of particular species in Ohio. The number of permits and animals involved has steadily declined in recent years, from 64 permits and 218 animals in 2014 to 40 permits and 155 animals currently, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Permitting and enforcement is handled by the agriculture department, which has a secure building on its Reynoldsburg campus to handle confiscated animals.
Mark Bruce, a spokesman for the agency, said about 230 animals have been held at the facility since it opened. Most of those were relocated to out-of-state sanctuaries.
As of Thursday, no animals were being held in the building.
The Dangerous and Restricted Animals Advisory Board met to consider rules and recommend changes as needed. The board met eight times but hasn’t had a session since November 2016, Bruce said.
The Dangerous Wild Animals State Emergency Response Commission reviewed mandated county plans for handling escapes or other dangerous wild-animal incidents. The commission met five times but hasn’t had a meeting since July 2016, Bruce said.
Dennis Summers, assistant state veterinarian and head of the agriculture department’s dangerous wild-animal program, said both boards completed their work. Permit-holders are complying with state law, with few pending enforcement actions.