EXOTIC ANIMAL BAN DNR Continues Push For Exotic Animal Ban
Reported by: Bethany Simmons
Web Producer: Bethany Simmons
Reported: Dec. 11, 2012 10:35 AM EST
Updated: Dec. 11, 2012 10:47 AM EST
Eyewitness News Photo
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
The Division of Natural Resources is pushing legislators to keep people in West Virginia from owning exotic animals.
Paul Johansen, the DNR's assistant wildlife chief, told a Legislative Committee Monday that the state lacks resources to control and regulate non-indigenous animals in West Virginia.
Johansen told lawmakers about a lion that escaped in Cass and was shot on Snowshoe Ski Resort's property.
"Here in West Virginia, we're not immune from these issues," Johansen said.
He noted that last winter's failed bill was brought to the table because of the more than 50 large cats that were found on a farm in Zanesville, Ohio. Investigators believe that the owner of the cats freed them before taking his own life.
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Bethany Simmons
