Gov. Strickland orders ban on exotic pets

COLUMBUS (AP) — Exiting Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has ordered a ban on new dangerous pets, in one of the last states to allow them to be owned with few restrictions.

Strickland signed an emergency executive order today, on his next to last business day in office. He said the order fulfills his end of a deal brokered by his administration with the Humane Society of the United States, other animal rights groups and Ohio’s agribusiness industry.

The agreement kept the Humane Society from going to the ballot with a measure restricting animal cruelty.

The ban on private ownership of any new wild animals will be carried out by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife. The move follows the fatal bear mauling of an animal caretaker in the Cleveland area last summer.