“It was a preventable tragedy,” State Rep. Debbie Phillips, D-Athens, who introduced legislation Friday banning the sale of exotic animals.
Gov. John Kasich and the Humane Society of the United States held dueling press conferences Friday afternoon that revealed the chasm. Kasich issued an executive order instructing state agencies to use existing legal powers in innovative ways and to provide better support for the enforcement efforts of local officials.
“Who would have dreamed the guy was going to commit suicide and open up the cages?” Kasich asked. “The question is why did he have all those animals to begin with, and was it appropriate?”
Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States, praised Kasich for acting on the issue, because “what happened in Zanesville has gotten the attention of every person in the country and across the globe.” He said he agrees with Kasich that the state legislature should enact a statute that addresses the problem.
Pacelle, however, said that Kasich’s executive order doesn’t go far enough: “It’s inadequate and too conservative given the severity of the crisis. It doesn’t get to the central question that we must ban the trade of these animals. Black bears, lions, tigers and pythons do not belong in back yards and basements.”
Tim Harrison, a former Oakwood police officer and nationally known expert on exotic animals, was more blunt in his criticism. The executive order has “absolutely no teeth,” he said, calling it “a Band-Aid on an artery.”
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said, “We agree that it doesn’t get to the heart of the problem,” noting that the governor has convened a broad-based task force that will examine legislative options for addressing the problem.
Kasich said he told the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the task force to “work harder and faster” and have draft legislation ready by Nov. 30 that will enhance and broaden the state’s authority so that Ohio can be a leader in this area and have proper restrictions. He said it can’t be “back of the napkin, willy-nilly” or “slapped together” but must be well thought out and avoid unintended consequences.
Pacelle and Harrison said they’re troubled by the presence on the task force of the Ohio Association of Animal Owners, which has lobbied for some 20 years against regulations. “This group fights all regulations on private ownership of wild animals, including regulations against cockfighting and puppy mills,” said Harrison, director of Outreach for Animals. “It’s like having a dog fighter weigh in on the responsible care of pit bulls.”
The Ohio Association of Animal Owners also sells dangerous wild animals, Harrison said, and form a prominent presence at a major animal auction in Mt. Hope, Ohio, where Harrison would often see Thompson. “He used to be there all the time,” Harrison said. “He struck me as eccentric.”
Nichols defended the group’s inclusion on the task force: “We think good public policy is borne out of a diversity of thoughts and ideas.”
Tom Stalf, chief operating officer for the Columbus Zoo and The Wilds, said “I’m 110 percent for restrictions and regulations so this never happens again.”
Stalf was on the scene Wednesday in Zanesville and said he’ll forever be haunted by that day: “This was animal hoarding in my opinion. There were horrible conditions and the animals were neglected, with feces in their cages, and a home that was hard to take a breath in. We had to walk into a 73-acre junkyard, with 50 cars, and all these outbuildings. There was nothing else to do but shoot these animals because they were going to hurt somebody. That was not the fault of the police. It was the fault of the guy who opened the cage doors and shot himself.”
Stalf said he supports Kasich’s approach. “We have to get everybody at the table,” he said.
When asked about ramped-up funding for local health departments, humane societies and zoos that may be asked to do more on this issue, Kasich said the state will have a financial stake and he recognizes they’ll need some support. (He didn’t commit to any funding, but said his administration would make an assessment.)
Some critics have questioned why the ban against exotic animals, signed by executive order during the final days of former Gov. Ted Strickland’s administration, was allowed to lapse. The rule banned private breeding and purchase of exotic animals and stripped ownership rights from those convicted of animal cruelty, such as Thompson.
Harrison worked with Strickland on the ban, and said the animals could have been removed by May 1 of this year if the ban had been renewed.
Strickland called the incident “terribly disturbing and sad.”
He said he spent a great deal of time working with the Humane Society of the United States, the Farm Bureau, Ohio sportsmen and law enforcement trying to come up with a “solution that would be fair and bring an end to the Wild West of exotic animal treatment in Ohio. I was aware of a huge problem in our state. The executive order we worked out was the result of sitting down with different groups and trying to find a common sense approach.”
Nichols acknowledged that Strickland’s executive order was “correct in principle” but slipshod. Kasich said it was unenforceable in that it went beyond state law: “Governors just can’t invent laws.”
Humane Society attorney Jonathan Lovvorn countered, “Ohio constitution gives the governor and the Department of Natural Resources broad authority in these matters.” Pacelle added, “We are perplexed by the legal reasoning of the Kasich administration about their powerlessness, when you have schools closing and wild animals running around.” A more forceful executive order, Pacelle said, could have served as “a bridge to a permanent and legally unassailable approach.”
Liz Dumler of Centerville, an Ohio University senior, worked with Strickland’s team in developing the ban and expressed frustration that it was allowed to expire. She has launched a petition on change.org, urging Kasich to ban the sale of exotic animals, that already has garnered more than 87,000 signatures.
“I think that the world is looking at Ohio right now trying to understand how this situation was allowed to happen,” Dumler said.
Kasich said Ohio will need an orderly way to take control of any forefeited or seized animals. “If you slap something together too quickly, first of all, you end up in court and secondly, you don’t have an effective infrastructure that you need to get this done. ... This is going to take time and a lot of hard work.”
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