A bill that would make it a crime to let people pet sharks has been tabled in the Iowa Legislature. It’s a response to a shark bite that happened in Iowa last year.
A small shark bit an employee at a for-profit zoo in West Des Moines, and the shark had to be killed to get the shark’s teeth out of the employee’s hand. A lobbyist for the Humane Society says the zoo still allows people to pet that same kind of shark.
Rep. Ray Sorensen, R-Greenfield, sponsored the bill.
“It doesn’t shut this place down. It just shuts down them having people pet a damn shark. I mean, I hate to say it’s a common sense bill, but for me, it’s a common sense bill. We shouldn’t be petting sharks.”
Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, says he doesn’t like legislation that just affects one business in the state, and he declined to advance the bill.