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Senator seeks exotic-animal law by end of year
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
A Republican state lawmaker whose hometown was thrust into the national spotlight last month after an incident involving loose tigers, bears, lions and other wild animals said Monday he will sponsor legislation to help prevent comparable incidents.
Sen. Troy Balderson, from Zanesville, said he hopes the bill will be passed before the end of the year. An executive order signed by Gov. John Kasich requires a state task force to offer recommendations for legislation before the end of the month.
“We need to do something quick,” Balderson said, adding, “My preference is that this gets done before January.”
Balderson offered the comments following an appearance in Zanesville Monday with Gov. John Kasich, campaigning for state Issue 2.
In Zanesville last month, sheriff’s deputies were forced to kill dozens of animals let loose by their troubled owner before he committed suicide.
The escape occurred months after Kasich allowed an executive order, signed by his predecessor, to expire that banned the private ownership and sale of such animals.
Though supportive of the ban, Kasich and other officials said the state did not have authority to enforce it or animal registration requirements without changes to state law.
A statewide task force has been meeting since the order expired, studying the issue and developing recommendations for policy changes to better deal with the private ownership of dangerous exotic and wild animals.
Kasich recently signed an executive order calling on state and local agencies to use authority already granted under state law to regulate wild animal ownership. He also set a deadline of late November for the development of legislation to deal with the issue.
Balderson said the resulting law changes likely will include registration requirements for animal owners.
, as well as state inspections of their properties.