Ohio's exotic-animal law survives federal lawsuit

COLUMBUS (AP) — A federal appeals court upheld Ohio’s restrictions on exotic animals today, rejecting a challenge by owners who had claimed the law was too stringent and forced them to join organizations they disagree with.

Seven owners had sued the state over the regulations, arguing that the law violates their free speech and free association rights.

The owners “believe that private exotic animal ownership, free from government intrusion, should be lawful,” an attorney for them wrote in a court brief in August.

But in its ruling, the three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said that the owners’ constitutional claims lacked merit.

“The burden of regulation may, unfortunately, fall heavier on some than on others, but that, without more, is not enough to render this act unconstitutional,” Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote in the panel’s opinion.

Ohio has defended the law as addressing animal welfare, public health and public safety concerns associated with private ownership of dangerous wild animals.