Ohio bill Passed

SB310 passes the Ohio House 87-9. It will now go to Governor Kasich for his signature into law. This is a sad day for the Ohio reptile community...

Very sorry to hear this news. I know we have many members from Ohio who have been watching this closely.

The craziness keeps on rolling along...

That's no good at all. :(

I was reading this bill just now on the OH state legislature website and I'm amazed at how confusing and strange the writing seems. Forgive me if this is not the correct version of SB310 that has passed.

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(O) "Wildlife sanctuary" means a nonprofit organization as described in section 170 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C. 170, as amended, that is accredited or verified by the global federation of animal sanctuaries, that operates a place of refuge where abused, neglected, unwanted, impounded, abandoned, orphaned, or displaced dangerous wild animals or restricted snakes are provided care for their lifetime or released back to their natural habitat, and, with respect to an animal or snake possessed by the organization, that does not do any of the following:
(1) Use or allow the use of the animal or snake for any type of entertainment or in a traveling exhibit;
(2) Sell, trade, lease, loan, or barter the animal or snake or the animal's or snake's body parts;
(3) Use or allow the use of the animal or snake in any manner for profit;
(4) Breed the animal or snake;
(5) Allow the public the opportunity to come into physical contact with the animal or snake.

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So now, snakes are not "animal"-y enough to fit in the animal category. :confused: :( I get that they're abbreviating "dangerous animals and restricted snakes" by just saying animals and snakes, but that is a truly indolent and ignorant way to do so.

I'm also really bothered by the fact that when it comes to rescues/sanctuaries, the public is not allowed to handle the animals even in educational seminars or demonstrations. There goes education. :sigh2:

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(D)(1) An applicant shall obtain and maintain proof of financial responsibility in one of the following forms:
(a) A liability insurance policy with an insurer authorized or approved to write such insurance in this state that covers claims for injury or damage to persons or property caused by a dangerous wild animal possessed by the applicant or any resulting claims against the state;
(b) A surety bond, which shall be executed by a surety company authorized to do business in this state that covers claims for injury or damage to persons or property caused by a dangerous wild animal possessed by the applicant or any resulting claims against the state. The bond shall be in a form approved by the director of agriculture.
(2) Proof of financial responsibility shall be in one of the following amounts, as applicable:
(a) Two hundred thousand dollars if the applicant possesses not more than five dangerous wild animals;
(b) Five hundred thousand dollars if the applicant possesses at least six, but not more than fifteen dangerous wild animals;
(c) One million dollars if the applicant possesses sixteen or more dangerous wild animals.
The amounts specified in division (D)(2) of this section shall be for each occurrence of injury or damage.

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The insurance requirements of this bill are so, so unjustifiably high. According to this bill, a single 13-foot captive-bred securely-housed Burmese python is capable of $200,000 worth of damage and should be insured as such. What???

.... I have no words for this. I am completely speechless :disbelief What a terrible, terrible day.

Wow! This sickens me. I just moved from Ohio back to PA recently. I still have several friends keeping/breeding in Ohio though. What a sad sad day. Ignorance prevailed...

What is going on in America :( I'm very sorry to hear this, maybe I should forget my future plans, about moving to the US.. But sadly I think, all this madness also will hit Europe. People what is happening to our freedom??

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Originally Posted by Brian Fobian

What is going on in America :( I'm very sorry to hear this, maybe I should forget my future plans, about moving to the US.. But sadly I think, all this madness also will hit Europe. People what is happening to our freedom??

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Our ignorance and apathy as a whole is letting our elected officials take it away from us.

Just for people to see.

As passed:

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/b...?ID=129_SB_310

So lets pass the hat and take up a collection. I bet we can buy the governor's veto on the bill. lol j/k It does suck. my wife and I are considering relocating just because of this bill. :( and the fact that not only is the governor currupt but so are half of the other politicians in the state. (my oppinion not supported by any hard evidence)

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist this is how it starts.

Am I correct in assuming that this bill was introduced in response to the unfortunate tragedy where all the bears, and large cats were loosed on the public by a suicidal caretaker last year?

If that is correct, it appears the legislative body took license and figured it would seize the opportunity to round up all species that they deem "undesirable", for lack of a better term. It is the proverbial slippery slope.

Unfortunately, ours is a passion that has been hard to muster support for as fear and ignorance keep so many away. But I am sad to hear this for so many more reasons beyond just the loss of the right to possess certain species of reptiles. This is pervasive throughout our society right now. One person/groups actions initiate a knee jerk response that the rest of us are left to pay the price for.

Your choice is to act or accept. Remember the ambitious, regardless of how misguided, will always prevail over the apathetic.

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Originally Posted by rlditmars

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist this is how it starts.

Am I correct in assuming that this bill was introduced in response to the unfortunate tragedy where all the bears, and large cats were loosed on the public by a suicidal caretaker last year?

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That's the whole story beyond the bill http://usark.org/?p=986

This is ludicrous. For all the Ohio residents in our community, I'm sorry to hear about this. :(

Travesty of Justice

Absurd.

Someone should start an insurance company that insures only these animals, at required amount...for like $5 per year. :P

If they ever have to pay out, we can take up a collection and help 'em. I don't expect it would ever be necessary.

Take a look at the list of animals on it..... Other than the snakes why would anyone own anything else on it? Its a good thing they passed this. It's not us that suffer its the animals period!!!!

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/b...?ID=129_SB_310

Any legislation that stands to BAN any animal is a bad law, period. There are people who would keep these animals properly and have the knowledge, funds, and space to do so. I think there should be laws in place that regulate how the animals are to be kept and have minimum experience and enclosure requirements for certain animals, but not outright bans on the animals.

I for one, would love to have a Serval. They are illegal in my state, which technically bans ANY African mammal. These laws are all fear based and it's quite sad.

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Originally Posted by MazAnth

Take a look at the list of animals on it..... Other than the snakes why would anyone own anything else on it? Its a good thing they passed this. It's not us that suffer its the animals period!!!!

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/b...?ID=129_SB_310

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Other people feel the exact same way you do about keeping snakes. If you can't support other people taking proper care of animals they love to keep, why should they support our right to keep snakes?

The agenda by HSUS and others is to end ALL exotic (and possibly domestic) animal keeping. Their strategy is go after each group piecemeal, betting that snake keepers won't unite with large cat keepers, etc. This is the same strategy that was used in Great Britain to make firearms illegal (played long gun hunters off of handgun self dense keepers).

Insurance was dropped unless you have a hot (venemous) snake. Just for Burms/other constrictors over 12 ft. you do not.

Read the Usark page posted earlier. 2nd paragraph down last 2-3 sentences. ANY animal can be added that's not native to Ohio WITHOUT legislative process. Your balls, boas, guinea pigs, may not be safe for long.

You don't register the animal until it gets over 12 ft. I'm more upset about the signs that has to be posted at my driveway, entrance to house, cages and my vehicles warning the public i have "dangerous wild animals or restricted snakes". It's like inviting thiefs. Here, come, I have expensive stuff.

Your only required 1 permit regardless the amount of snakes. So even if they do add balls later, you only need one permit.

I don't want Zanesville to happen again. I'm fine with permitting my snakes. Don't like sign thing but oh well. If it prevents the Terry Thompsons of Ohio from owning exotics I'm good with it as it reads. There will be standards of caging and care that will be set at a later date, but well cross that as it comes.

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Originally Posted by tjohnson722

I'm more upset about the signs that has to be posted at my driveway, entrance to house, cages and my vehicles warning the public i have "dangerous wild animals or restricted snakes". It's like inviting thiefs. Here, come, I have expensive stuff.

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Wow! Ridiculous... I don't even think sex offenders and other convicted felons have to go that far???!!!

Wait, is this only large pythons or does it include all snakes? Are BP's ok to breed?

This is so jacked up :\

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Originally Posted by Kylegep

Wait, is this only large pythons or does it include all snakes? Are BP's ok to breed?

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Yes this is only for the giant snakes over 12 feet. For now.........

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Why are they banning animals that hardly ever hurt people? Even when they do, most attacks are the result of stupidity or neglect on behalf of the owner. Look at how many dogs maul, disfigure, and kill people. Of course, they aren't evil (and neither are our snakes), and no one would ever think to ban or slaughter all domestic dogs because sometimes mistreated ones attack. Why play favoritism because some animals are "cuter" to the general public?

Case in point, my grandma's frail, elderly friend was playing with her strictly indoor cat when it accidentally scratched her, leading to a horrible infection, days in the hospital, many return visits, a load of antibiotics that messed up her digestive tract, and all sorts of stress. She was never advised or forced to give up her cat. It was fine, just an accident. Now imagine the hell that would ensue if the same thing happened with a snake bite instead of a cat scratch?

This is insanity. Any animal could cause injury, with the right circumstances. The problem is not the animals or being able to own them. The problem is a lack of education and effort to keep them properly. Accidents will happen with anything and everything, but outright banning these animals is downright stupid. :(

Really??? who sells tiger insurance?? its just another case of the MAN taking your money and YOUR rights away one by one. you need a license to hunt for food, have a yard sale, catch a fish, now u need a license to have a pet. whats next?

they'll make you believe its to protect us, keep us safe. lord knows we really need to cut down on the lion maulings and rhino tramplings that are running rampant in ohio these days. its a load of BS propaganda to get your money and keep tabs of who has what and where. Its an infringement on YOUR basic right to privacy :salute::salute::salute::salute:

So what exactly is happening. Are you still allowed to breed, or do you need to pay an outrageous amount of money to do so? Either way it violates our fifth amendment and John lockes philosophy that god gave us the right to life, liberty, and property. Apparently some intend to condemn god. I would say I'm more agnostic, but still, if he's there, he's being undermined. Not to sound religious, but come on people. We are rolling over, at what point do we revolt? Let's go and get angry. Fight for whats right!!!:rage: