Published: January 24, 2007 10:55 am      

Sipes introduces dangerous animal bill

Indiana may soon have the answer Sharon Allen has been hoping for.

State Sen. Connie Sipes (D-New Albany) introduced State Bill 482 Monday designed to promote public safety by “prohibiting the private possession of certain wild and dangerous animals” in the state.

Allen came to the Floyd County Commissioners late last year trying to get the commissioners to adopt and approve an animal ordinance. Her neighbors, along Alonzo Smith Road in Georgetown, breed and raise hybrid wolves who she claims have terrorized the neighborhood. She told commissioners that one of the wolves killed her family pet.

Sipes’ bill includes the hybrid wolves.

“Wild animals kept in untrained hands in our communities pose a serious threat to Indiana residents,” Sipes said in a release. “My constituents are very concerned about the proliferation of exotic pets. They want action now. Wild animals belong in the wild, not in our backyards.”

People who already have these animals would be able to keep them by getting a permit from the Department of Natural Resources. Currently, a DNR permit is required to keep certain wild animals as pets in Indiana, specifically wild cats such as lions, tigers and servals; wolves; bears; alligators at least five feet long; and venomous snakes. SB 482 will expand the list of regulated animals to include large constrictor snakes, crocodiles, chimpanzees, monkeys and other wild animals, and will prohibit private possession of these animals. In addition, it will expand the list of regulated entities to include those licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“It is extremely difficult to meet the needs of wild animals in captivity. All too often, people get them as infants and when they grow too large and aggressive to handle, there is no place for them to go,” said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The Humane Society of the United States, in a press release. “They may end up confined to small cages, passed from owner to owner, or let loose.”

Jeffersonville passed a similar ordinance in 1989 which was written by City Councilman John Perkins. The ordinance includes everything from lions and tigers to foxes and possums.

“It was challenged in the court of appeals and upheld,” Perkins said. “After that I had about 30 requests from cities in the Midwest who wanted copies of the ordinance.”

Perkins said he still remembers the night the Jeffersonville ordinance was passed.

“I think the room held 90 people and we had around 300,” he said. “It was a fun-filled night.”

He also said the ordinance has be successful.

Floyd County attorney Rick Fox said he has not read the ordinance yet, but is eager to. He said it could affect Floyd County’s proposed ordinance.

“It’s definitely something that would be of interest to us,” he said.

Markarian said nationwide, at least 18 people have been killed by captive exotic animals in the past five years, and many more have been injured.