Ohio to ban exotic animal ownership

New rules grandfather current pets

Tim Harrison captures a 90 pound pet cougar that got loose in 2002 and was roaming the 200 block of Xenia Avenue in Dayton. A documentary film on Harrison's experiences entitled

Contributed photo Tim Harrison captures a 90 pound pet cougar that got loose in 2002 and was roaming the 200 block of Xenia Avenue in Dayton. A documentary film on Harrison's experiences entitled "The Elephant in the Living Room" was released this year.

ENLARGE PHOTO

26 Feb 08 Photo by Ron Alvey. Tim Harrison holds the biggest of the two alligators, while at the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, that were recently confiscated from a house in Dayton. Harrison is an Oakwood police officer and the Director of Outreach for Animals. This gator is about 4ft long and the smaller one is about 3ft.

Ron Alvey/Staff photo 26 Feb 08 Photo by Ron Alvey. Tim Harrison holds the biggest of the two alligators, while at the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, that were recently confiscated from a house in Dayton. Harrison is an Oakwood police officer and the Director of Outreach for Animals. This gator is about 4ft long and the smaller one is about 3ft.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Days may be numbered for owning exotic animals in Ohio

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By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer Updated 5:11 PM Saturday, September 4, 2010

New rules banning the sale and ownership of exotic pets could put an end to Ohio’s wild history of regulatory gaps.

The promised rules are the result of an agreement Gov. Ted Strickland brokered between the Humane Society of the United States and farm groups to keep an animal welfare initiative off the November ballot. The rules will grandfather current pets but they won’t allow replacement or breeding.

Strickland’s agreement indicates animals banned will at least include “big cats, bears, primates, large constricting and venomous snakes and alligators and crocodiles.”

In the Miami Valley, runaway or out-of-control beasts created a second career for now retired Oakwood police officer Tim Harrison. A documentary on his exploits corralling cougars, hyenas, snakes, reptiles and bears, titled “The Elephant in the Living Room,” was released this year and will be shown at The Neon in Dayton the first week of October.

Harrison, 54, of Springboro said the subculture of exotic animal ownership has been fueled by reality television and naive people with illusions they can control dangerous animals, creating a deadly situation in Ohio. “You can buy a cobra, but you can’t buy common sense,” he said.

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