By Jo Ingles
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 30 (Reuters) – Five wild animals
will soon be returned to the widow of a man who released them
into the Ohio countryside last year, state officials said on
Monday, raising concerns of a repeat of the panic that gripped
the state when dozens of beasts including lions, tigers and
bears roamed free.
Seven months after Terry Thompson released 56 exotic animals
near Zanesville, Ohio, and then committed suicide, the Ohio
legislature still is struggling to draft regulations on wild
animal ownership. Ohio is one of only a handful of states with
no restrictions on exotic animal ownership.
The state Agriculture Department said on Monday it had no
legal way to prevent the five remaining animals – a spotted
leopard, a black leopard, two Celebes Macaque monkeys and a
brown bear – from being given back to Thompson’s widow, Marilyn.
She has said she will take them back to the farm and put
them in the cages they fled last October.
“This raises concerns, as she has indicated the cages have
not been repaired, and has repeatedly refused to allow animal
welfare experts to evaluate if conditions are safe for the
animals and sufficient to prevent them from escaping and
endangering the community,” the Agriculture Department said.
The agency said the only hope of preventing their return to
the Thompson family within 24 hours from the Columbus Zoo is for
the county Humane Society to seek a court order to inspect the
farm.
“Until then we can only hope that local officials choose to
act to prevent another tragedy,” the Agriculture Department
said.
The local Humane Society could not immediately be reached
for comment.
After Thompson, who had been charged with animal cruelty 11
times since 2004, released the lions, tigers and other wild
animals last October, law enforcement officials had to go on a
big game hunt. Authorities warned residents to stay inside while
they killed 49 of the 56 animals.
Six were captured and sent to the Columbus Zoo but one
spotted leopard later died there. Another animal was presumed
eaten by others and was never accounted for.
The surviving animals have been held at the Columbus Zoo.
The state Senate passed a bill last week that would ban Ohio
residents from buying lions, tigers, bears, elephants, wolves,
alligators, crocodiles, and certain kinds of monkeys as pets,
unless they follow strict guidelines.
Existing owners of wild animals can keep them if they follow
the new rules, which include permit fees, registration and
constructing proper facilities. The Ohio House may not vote on
the measure until the end of May.
(Editing by Greg McCune and Bill Trott)
