Ohio panel accepts changes to exotic animal rules

COLUMBUS (AP) — Animal owners in Ohio continued to urge state lawmakers today to scrap a proposal to regulate dangerous exotic wildlife in the state, even as an Ohio Senate panel made changes to the measure and was scheduled to possibly vote on it.

About 30 opponents of the bill were slated to speak against the measure at a hearing today. Others, including the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, offered their support for the bill before the Senate agriculture committee.

State Sen. Cliff Hite, chairman of the panel, said a committee vote on the measure is more likely Wednesday although his goal is to get a vote by the full Senate this week.

Ohio has some of the nation’s weakest restrictions on exotic pets.

Efforts to strengthen the regulations took on new urgency after owner Terry Thompson let 56 animals — including black bears, mountain lions and Bengal tigers — escape from his eastern Ohio farm before committing suicide in October. Authorities were forced to kill 48 of the animals in an effort to protect the public.

The measure would ban new ownership of exotic animals, allowing current owners to keep their pets by obtaining a new state-issued permit by 2014 and meeting other conditions. Permit fees for lions, tigers and other dangerous animals would begin at $500. Insurance policies for dangerous animals could reach as high as $1 million, depending on the number kept.