Exotic Problems Oregon Officials Want Rules For Wild Animals As Pets

As exotic pets multiply in Oregon - most of them kept illegally without permits - people are getting hurt, neighborhoods are going on alert and state inspectors say they’re overwhelmed.

Last month, a chimpanzee bit off an Oregon man’s finger. A wolf-dog mangled a 3-year-old Oregon boy last year. Six wolf hybrids set free in Zigzag this summer prompted some residents to keep their guns handy.

Some exotic pet owners who have permits say they haven’t seen a state inspector in two years. And there’s a nagging disagreement about whether the state or counties are responsible for tracking down escaped exotics.

Animal experts and state officials are looking to the Legislature for answers. Resolving these problems has become a top priority for the Oregon Agriculture Department’s animal health and identification division, administrator Rodger Huffman said.

On the other side, exotic pet owners want the government to back off.

“Where do we draw the line?” asked Bruce Andrews, director of the Agriculture Department.

The number of exotic animal permits has quadrupled in Oregon in the past five years, to 93 permits for 242 animals in 1996. More than half of those are wolf hybrids, which the state classified as exotics in 1992.

Authorities say that’s just a fraction of the exotics living with Oregon residents. The rest are hidden away, usually found only when a neighbor complains or when the animal bites someone or escapes.

Experts say most people who buy wild animals as pets are unprepared for what they get: A predator capable of inflicting serious harm, even death, despite years in captivity.

For instance, a 600-pound tiger mauled a 6-year-old Texas girl in its pen in May. A pet cougar bit a 5-year-old Washington boy in April.

Since 1981, wolf hybrids have killed at least a dozen children across the country.

A few communities, including Troutdale and Redmond, have banned dangerous exotic pets.

Some people want the ban extended statewide.

“No one has the right to own a zoo animal,” said Rep. Bob Montgomery, R-Cascade Locks. “You and I shouldn’t have to subsidize their egos.”

Scott Ray, who keeps a stunning 25-pound serval cat in his back yard, thinks the state’s rules are too lax. But he insists that exotic pet owners should bear the ultimate responsibility for their animals.

His home in rural Clackamas County is surrounded by 7-foot-high, heavy-gauge cyclone fencing to keep Tequila at home and his neighbors calm. It’s far more than the state requires, but Ray said it’s for peace of mind. He would be legally responsible if the declawed serval escaped or hurt someone.

Ray said he hasn’t seen a state inspector in a year or two.

State veterinarian Andrew Clark insists that very few exotic animal facilities are unsafe and that most keepers provide “perfectly adequate” living quarters for their pets, despite irregular inspection.

But Clark conceded that some keepers are reckless, becoming a real problem for regulators and a drain on state budgets.

Five years ago, a Corbett man was convicted of fourth-degree assault and placed on two years’ probation after his African lion-Siberian tiger hybrid attacked an 11-year-old girl and her father. Ed Winebarger was forced to shoot his new pet in order to save them.

The girl, Katy Leamy, had stuck her hand into the cage and was patting the pacing 400-pound lion-tiger when it bit through her wrist. Her father’s hand also became impaled on the animal’s fangs when he tried to rescue Katy.

Katy, now 16 and a trumpeter in the Sandy Union High School band, has regained full use of her arm.

She thinks captive exotic animals are an unnecessary danger, and hopes to persuade the Legislature to change Oregon’s laws.

Her arms bear vicious-looking scars. And even if she succeeds in changing the laws, the big cats continue to stalk her in her dreams.

“In one a couple weeks ago, there was this mountain lion following us around the neighborhood,” she said. “I stuck my best friend out in front of me.”