Des Moines, Iowa — A bill that would make it a crime to let people pet sharks has been tabled in the Iowa Legislature.
The bill was in response after a small shark bit an employee at a for-profit zoo in West Des Moines, and the shark had to be killed to get its teeth out of the employee’s hand. Republican Representative Ray Sorensen of Greenfield sponsored the bill.
(NOTE Language. Cut contains the word “damn.”)
A Humane Society lobbyist says the zoo still allows people to pet that same kind of shark, which Sorensen says shouldn’t happen.
Republican Representative John Wills declined to advance the bill, saying he doesn’t like legislation that just affects one business in the state.
