COLUMBUS — Noted zookeeper and animal specialist Jack Hanna brought several four-legged creatures to the podium Thursday as he urged Ohio lawmakers to pass a law regulating exotic animal ownership.
Hanna displayed several creatures as he spoke to the Ohio Newspaper Association at the Hilton Columbus/Polaris. He addressed the shootings of about 50 animals that were released from an exotic animal refuge in Zanesville in October and urged a bill to prevent a repeat event.
“Noah’s ark wrecked in Zanesville that rainy night,” Hanna said.
The bill would ideally address exotic animal ownership rights and prohibit keeping such animals as pets, Hanna said.
"I'm asking you to pass a bill that's fair to everybody, especially the citizens of Ohio,” Hanna said.
After 56 animals that escaped in Zanesville, local officials spent hours seeking out and killing most of them; six were transported to the Columbus Zoo and the Wilds, according to a previous article in The Post.
"It is beyond a miracle that all those animals were found," Hanna said.
sj950610@ohiou.edu
