COLUMBUS — An Ohio lawmaker is proposing that owners of exotic animals be subjected to background checks and required to fence their property — measures supporters say might have saved dozens of lions, tigers, and other wild creatures that were shot by authorities months ago after their suicidal owner let them loose.
COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. John Kasich has put in place temporary measures to crack down on private ownership of dangerous wild animals while tougher laws are written this fall. Some animal owner groups welcomed the order, though others have blasted it as not going far enough. Critics, including the Humane Society of the United States, say they would have preferred a ban on the purchase and sale of exotic animals. That’s what Kasich’s Democratic predecessor, former Gov. Ted Strickland, ordered before leaving office in January.
ZANESVILLE — Sheriff’s deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals — including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions — in a big-game hunt across the Ohio countryside Wednesday after the owner of an exotic-animal park threw their cages open and committed suicide in what may have been one last act of spite against his neighbors and police.
WASHINGTON — Threatened with a series of state laws cracking down on cramped cages, the egg industry on Thursday said it would agree to seek federal regulation to improve conditions for egg-laying hens. In an unusual move, the United Egg Producers announced the effort in a joint appearance with the Humane Society of the United States. The egg group represents 95 percent of the egg-laying hens in the United States.