TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) – State officials say they’ll evaluate a dozen exotic animals seized from an animal sanctuary near Toledo before returning them to their owner.
A judge on Wednesday ordered the state to return the animals, including several tigers and a lion, soon after they were seized.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture began rounding up the animals after the state denied the owner a permit to keep them.
The animals were on their way to a state holding facility in Reynoldsburg when a Wood County judge said the animals should be returned in part for their safety.
A spokeswoman for the Agriculture Department says state veterinarians will first check the animals that were tranquilized to determine if they are OK to make the return trip.
Dan Tierney, spokesman for Attorney General Mike DeWine, said the animals, which were tranquilized so they could be removed from Tiger Ridge Exotics, will be allowed to recover at the state facility while state officials consider legal options, according to a report in The Columbus Dispatch.
The animals are being housed at the $2.9 million facility with fences topped with razor wire, surveillance cameras and an alarm system which is not open to the public. It was built to accommodate animals seized from or relinquished by owners who don’t comply with the exotic animals law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2014.