COLUMBUS (AP) — The state has seized five tigers and five other animals from a northeast Ohio farm, saying it hasn’t met the requirements of a law that tightened restrictions on exotic animal ownership.
A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture says it took action Wednesday against Stump Hill Farm in Massillon after attempts at accreditation that could make the facility exempt from the law stalled. Spokeswoman Erica Hawkins says the tigers, two pumas, two baboons and a chimpanzee were moved to the state holding facility in Reynoldsburg.
Stump Hill owner Cyndi Huntsman argues that her nonprofit farm is a licensed educational facility and thus exempt from the exotic animal permit requirements. Her attorney says that Huntsman is being unfairly “picked on” by the state and that her animals weren’t endangering anyone.