Local Exotic Animal Owner Talks About Ohio Animal Deaths

WE WERE ALL STUNNED TO LEARN YESTERDAY THAT AN OHIO MAN RELEASED 56 DANGEROUS EXOTIC ANIMALS AT HIS FARM SHORTLY BEFORE COMMITTING SUICIDE. ONLY 6 OF THOSE ANIMALS WERE SAVED, THE OTHERS HAD TO BE PUT DOWN DUE TO THE RISK THEY POSED TO AREA RESIDENTS. ABC-7’S JENNIFER MYERS TRAVELLED TO A LOCAL ANIMAL FARM TO TALK TO AN OWNER OF EXOTIC ANIMALS HERE IN THE BORDERLAND TO SEE WHAT KIND OF SAFTEY MEASURES ARE IN PLACE FOR HIS ANIMALS. CHEATER BELLA HAS OWNED EXOTIC ANIMALS FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS. HE INVITED US UP TO HIS RANCH TO MEET A FEW OF HIS FURRY AND FEATHERED FRIENDS. AND THESE WERE JUST A FEW OF HIS EXOTICS, THE MORE DANGEROUS ONES HE KEEPS AT A SEPARATE LOCATION. “We’ve had alligators and tigers and lions and bears and reptiles and snakes,” BUT AFTER NEARLY 50 ANIMALS IN OHIO HAD TO BE KILLED BECAUSE THEY WERE A THREAT TO AREA RESIDENTS, WE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF PRECAUTIONS HE WAS TAKING TO KEEP EL PASOANS SAFE. “We keep everything in a primary enclosure with a secondary perimeter around it.” CHEATER ACQUIRED ALL OF HIS ANIMALS AS RESCUES, AND HE SAID HE KNOWS THE DANGERS THAT COME WITH TAKING CARE OF SUCH ANIMALS. “When you get out of the dog and cat realm, you get into the larger animal realm, that you could be subjecting yourself or other people to the probability of danger in it. So there a helluva responsibility, from the day they are born, to the day we bury them.” BUT NOT ALL OWNERS TAKE THE CARE OF SUCH RARE CREATURES SO SERIOUSLY, ESPECIALLY SINCE OWNING AN EXOTIC ANIMAL CAN BE EASIER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK. Standup: In New Mexico, there is a ban on private ownership of exotic animals, but in texas, the laws aren’t as strict, in fact, it takes less paper work to own a monkey, than it does to own a dog. CHEATER SAYS THERE ARE 4 DIFFERENT ENTITIES KEEPING TRACK OF HIS ANIMALS, FROM THE COUNTY TO FEDERAL FISH AND GAME. BUT IT’S ALL IN A LABOR OF LOVE. CHEATER SHARED ONE OF HIS FONDEST MEMORIES WITH US ABOUT A BEAR THAT USED TO SLEEP IN HIS BED. “Did he hog the bed? Yeah, he also wet it, that’s why he got thrown out. If you feel something warm running down your side when you’re sleeping with a bear, just roll him out of bed.” JENNIFER MYERS, ABC-7.