New Jersey has outlawed the possession of "potentially dangerous animals," among them tigers, wolves, and alligators.
Both states ban the private ownership of primates such as monkeys and chimpanzees, and do not allow wild-animal auctions.
Some Pennsylvania lawmakers want to bring the state's law in line with New Jersey's, by enacting a similar ban on private ownership of most categories of large wild animals. The bill passed a House committee last spring and is awaiting action in the full chamber.
"My legislation would change the law so that ownership of specific wild animals for private entertainment would be considered the mistreatment of that wildlife, therefore protecting the safety of Pennsylvanians as well as these animals," Rep. Ed Staback (D., Lackawanna) said.
Across the country, a hodgepodge of weak or nonexistent state laws has led to the proliferation of legally and illegally kept wild animals and hundreds of cases of attacks, some fatal, said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States.
Pacelle and leaders of animal welfare groups have stepped up calls for a ban of transport, trade, and ownership of so-called exotic animals since the shooting of 50 animals, including 18 rare Bengal tigers, that were released in Zanesville, Ohio, by their owner, who then killed himself. The animals were killed because they were deemed too dangerous to attempt to capture.
"These animals should not be kept in people's backyards, their basements, or bedrooms," Pacelle, in a conference call with reporters, said Thursday.
Licensed zoos that are accredited by a professional organization and permitted by state and federal authorities would be unaffected by these efforts.
No one was injured by any of the animals let free by Terry Thompson in Zanesville, in southeastern Ohio.
