COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Controlling Board recently granted an Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) request for $500,000 to cover temporary housing, feeding and transportation of exotic animals seized by the department.

It also requested the board waive a competitive selection process for the transportation company the ODA has chosen to use.

“The department requested $500,000 in funding specifically for two factors,” said Brett Gates, ODA spokesperson: “To pay contractors for providing care for animals that have been seized by the state, and to pay for the transportation of animals that have been seized or surrendered from the state’s animal holding facility to a reputable sanctuary out of state.”

Since the state’s crackdown on ownership of exotic animals three years ago, Ohioans holding tigers, bears, lions and numerous other species of wild animals are required to gain state permits and follow care and containment standards.

The ODA oversees the registration requirements and enforcement and can confiscate animals from owners who fail to follow the law. ODA keeps the confiscated animals at its Reynoldsburg facility.

Since 2013, the state has taken possession of 67 alligators, 17 bears, 11 tigers, three restricted snakes and two cougars, along with a dwarf crocodile, lion, serval, leopard, timber wolf, bobcat and liger, according to Gates. For security purposes, ODA does not disclose how many animals it is holding.

“Without this funding, the department would not be able to adequately care for the animals that were seized” under the law, ODA said in its request to the Controlling Board. Of the $500,000, $300,000 will be used to transfer the animals to qualified care facilities. The animals are transported in trailers with air conditioning, running water and fans to ensure their comfort.

“We try to make sure that they are in self-contained trailers; we have capture equipment, an employee trained transport team, safety transportation cages,” Gates explained. “They are traveling with first aid and anesthesia equipment. There are a lot of factors involved in the transport of these animals.”

The other $200,000 will go to facilities to provide care for the animals, at a cost of about $200 per animal per month.

State Sen. Bill Coley, (R-District 4) voted against the request to waive a competitive selection process for the company the ODA has chosen to use to transport the animals. The measure did pass.

“They wanted to waive competitive selection to use this company out of California to transport animals,” Coley said. “We found that the Cincinnati Zoo and other zoos in the area have an organization based out of the Detroit area that has a facility in Port Clinton.

“I was a little disturbed at not taking that out for competitive selection and vetting other organizations that can safely transport wild animals. The taxpayers’ dollar could have been a little better served had the department contacted this company out of Royal Oak, Michigan.”