Group urges McDonnell to crack down on dangerous animals
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By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 20, 2011
The Humane Society of the United States wants Gov. Bob McDonnell to toughen Virginia’s regulation of the sale and possession of dangerous wild animals in the wake of a big-game scare in Ohio this week.
Sheriff’s deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals, including dozens of lions and tigers, near Zanesville, Ohio, on Wednesday after the owner of an exotic-animal park threw their cages open and committed suicide.
Something similar could happen in Virginia, the humane society warned today, because of lax laws and regulations that the group called among the weakest in the country.
“How many incidents must we catalogue before states like Virginia take action to crack down on private ownership of dangerous exotic animals?” Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the humane society, said in a statement.
The group called on McDonnell to issue an emergency order or otherwise direct his administration to adopt regulations banning dangerous animals.
Tucker Martin, a McDonnell spokesman, said the governor would look into it.
“The governor is concerned about any threats to public safety that could be presented by personal ownership of such animals,” Martin said by email. “In the wake of yesterday’s tragic situation in Ohio, the administration will look further into the laws in the commonwealth regarding this issue.”
Debbie Leahy, a captive wildlife regulatory specialist at the humane society, said Virginia requires permits for the possession of wolves, coyotes, bears, raccoons, skunks, hyenas, big cats, alligators and crocodilies, but allows exemptions for breeders, dealers and exhibitors licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“USDA licenses are easy to obtain,” Leahy said. “I could, for example, decide I’m going to exhibit my pet bunny at birthday parties. So I go out and get a USDA license to exhibit animals. Once I have that license, I can get anything – tigers and chimpanzees and rhinos and elephants.”
Moreover, Virginia has no restrictions at all on the possession of primates, Leahy said.
“It’s a very weak law and it’s a very poorly enforced law,” she said.
Virginia is one of about 10 states being targeted by the humane society after the Ohio incident for alleged lax regulation of wild animals.
Leahy said an ideal law or regulation would outlaw possession of specified animals – big cats, bears, primates, wolves, venomous and constricting snakes – except by accredited zoos and sanctuaries.
The society offered a sampling of incidents in Virginia over the past decade that it said show the hazards of harboring dangerous wild animals:
-- An adult java macaque attacked his owners while sharing the same bed in Surry County in May.
-- Six chimpanzees escaped an enclosure at an animal farm in Mechanicsville in July 2010.
-- A man was attacked twice in two weeks by his pet capuchin monkey, who bit his left hand, severing a finger, in Chesapeake in March 2010.
-- A 16-year-old employee at the Luray Zoo was attacked by an adult tiger, causing severe injuries to her left hand and arm, in November 2008.
-- A 25-year-old woman was found strangled to death by her pet python in Virginia Beach in October 2008.
-- A 5-year-old boy was bitten by a black bear at Maymont Park in Richmond in February 2006.
-- Two Asiatic bears were shot and killed after they escaped from their enclosure at the Natural Bridge Zoo in December 2003.
Pilot writer Julian Walker contributed to this report.
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/group-urges-mcdonnell-crack-down-dangerous-animals
Posted to: News State Government Virginia Login or register to post
By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 20, 2011
The Humane Society of the United States wants Gov. Bob McDonnell to toughen Virginia’s regulation of the sale and possession of dangerous wild animals in the wake of a big-game scare in Ohio this week.
Sheriff’s deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals, including dozens of lions and tigers, near Zanesville, Ohio, on Wednesday after the owner of an exotic-animal park threw their cages open and committed suicide.
Something similar could happen in Virginia, the humane society warned today, because of lax laws and regulations that the group called among the weakest in the country.
“How many incidents must we catalogue before states like Virginia take action to crack down on private ownership of dangerous exotic animals?” Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the humane society, said in a statement.
The group called on McDonnell to issue an emergency order or otherwise direct his administration to adopt regulations banning dangerous animals.
Tucker Martin, a McDonnell spokesman, said the governor would look into it.
“The governor is concerned about any threats to public safety that could be presented by personal ownership of such animals,” Martin said by email. “In the wake of yesterday’s tragic situation in Ohio, the administration will look further into the laws in the commonwealth regarding this issue.”
Debbie Leahy, a captive wildlife regulatory specialist at the humane society, said Virginia requires permits for the possession of wolves, coyotes, bears, raccoons, skunks, hyenas, big cats, alligators and crocodilies, but allows exemptions for breeders, dealers and exhibitors licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“USDA licenses are easy to obtain,” Leahy said. “I could, for example, decide I’m going to exhibit my pet bunny at birthday parties. So I go out and get a USDA license to exhibit animals. Once I have that license, I can get anything – tigers and chimpanzees and rhinos and elephants.”
Moreover, Virginia has no restrictions at all on the possession of primates, Leahy said.
“It’s a very weak law and it’s a very poorly enforced law,” she said.
Virginia is one of about 10 states being targeted by the humane society after the Ohio incident for alleged lax regulation of wild animals.
Leahy said an ideal law or regulation would outlaw possession of specified animals – big cats, bears, primates, wolves, venomous and constricting snakes – except by accredited zoos and sanctuaries.
The society offered a sampling of incidents in Virginia over the past decade that it said show the hazards of harboring dangerous wild animals:
-- An adult java macaque attacked his owners while sharing the same bed in Surry County in May.
-- Six chimpanzees escaped an enclosure at an animal farm in Mechanicsville in July 2010.
-- A man was attacked twice in two weeks by his pet capuchin monkey, who bit his left hand, severing a finger, in Chesapeake in March 2010.
-- A 16-year-old employee at the Luray Zoo was attacked by an adult tiger, causing severe injuries to her left hand and arm, in November 2008.
-- A 25-year-old woman was found strangled to death by her pet python in Virginia Beach in October 2008.
-- A 5-year-old boy was bitten by a black bear at Maymont Park in Richmond in February 2006.
-- Two Asiatic bears were shot and killed after they escaped from their enclosure at the Natural Bridge Zoo in December 2003.
Pilot writer Julian Walker contributed to this report.
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/group-urges-mcdonnell-crack-down-dangerous-animals
