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California Exotic Animal Laws Scrutinized By Animal Rights Groups

Molly Gray |
November 9, 2011 | 4:41 p.m. PST

Contributor

California exotic animal laws served as the template for an executive order signed last Friday by Ohio Gov. John Kasich after more than 50 animals ran loose there last month.

But some say California laws aren’t all they are cut out to be.

On Oct. 18 lions, tigers, monkeys and other exotic animals escaped from a sanctuary in Zanesville, Ohio. The ensuing chaos, in which police killed nearly all of the escaped animals, prompted residents to urge Kasich to ban the private ownership of such animals to prevent future disasters.

While owning exotic animals in California has been outlawed for nearly 80 years, animal rights groups don’t believe they are effective.

“There are a lot of issues,” said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles. “Unfortunately, it’s just not a great scenario.”

“We have laws on the books that look better than Ohio. But they’re like nothing if nobody checks on them.”

Bernstein said that the California Department of Fish and Game -- which handles exotic animal permits -- does not have the resources to enforce the law by following up on elapsed permits and inspecting cages and care of the animals.

The department disagrees.

“The beauty of our system is that the game wardens live and work in the local communities,” said Andrew Hughan, spokesman for the department. “They know where these facilities are in their communities, and they do routine scheduled and non-scheduled inspections of these kinds of facilities.”

While these types of incidents are not tracked by the federal government, California fares well compared to other states in one private database.

According to Born Free USA, a national animal advocacy groups, there have been 73 reported cases of escaped exotic animals in California since 1995. Florida, the state with the highest incident rate has had 207 reported cases since 1990.

While there are no facilities in California with the number of animals that were in Ohio, the entertainment industry in Los Angeles has a large exotic animal contingent.

Hughan said that animals used for movies or commercials are routinely checked, and that it's rare that any citations are issued.

More common are animals that escape from private owners and small sanctuaries that don’t have the proper permits or have smuggled the animals into the state.

“There are people who bring exotic animals in, thinking it’s not big deal and then they escape,” Hughan said. “Our first priority is the safety of the people around … most of the time the animal will be destroyed.”

In 2005, a tiger that escaped from a sanctuary with invalid permits in Moorpark, northwest of Los Angeles, and roamed the surrounding suburbs for a month before police found and fatally shot it, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Overall, Hughan said that the laws in California have been successful in preventing large-scale problems like the one in Ohio.

“Our compliance in California is very good,” he said.

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