Thanks to the efforts of the Humane Society of the United States, private citizens are banned from having wild animals as pets.
Current owners must microchip their animals and register them. Exotic animal owners who have had their local, state or federal licenses revoked are prohibited from holding such animals. Up till now Ohio was one of 10 States with no rules on private ownership of dangerous exotic animals.
This order fulfills one of 8 points in the landmark animal welfare agreement the HSUS negotiated last summer with Governor Ted Strickland and leaders of 8 agricultural commodity organizations in Ohio including the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.
The HSUS tells us that there is always a bad outcome for humans and especially the exotic animals kept as pets. Several children and adults have been injured or killed by exotic animals kept as pets in recent years.
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