SEYMOUR, Tenn. (WATE) – The Blount County Sheriff’s Office is investigating reports of people being bitten by a zebra in the Seymour area.
Deputies say there have been four reports of zebra bites over the past two weeks at Brookhaven Animal Farm on I.C. King Road in Seymour, which is a private farm that is not open to the public.
The first incident was on June 21. Deputies say they got a call from Blount Memorial Hospital that a 26-year-old man had been bitten on the hand by a zebra at the farm.
Two more reports came in on July 2 that two women, ages 22 and 23, had been bitten on the upper arm and back, respectively. One was treated at Blount Memorial and the other at UT Medical Center.
The fourth report came on July 3 where a 22-year-old woman was bitten on her right bicep.
The sheriff’s office says they are unaware of any state laws regarding privately owned exotic animals.
The sheriff’s office says the cases are still under investigation.
News Source: https://www.wate.com/news/blount-county-deputies-investigate-zebra-bites-in-seymour/
Tennessee Exotic Animal Laws:
§ 70-4-401. Crimes and offenses
(a) It is unlawful for any person to possess, transport, import, export, buy, sell, barter, propagate or transfer any wildlife, whether indigenous to this state or not, except as provided by this part and rules and regulations promulgated by the Tennessee fish and wildlife commission pursuant to this part.
(b) No person shall possess Class I or Class II wildlife without having documentary evidence showing the name and address of the supplier of such wildlife and date of acquisition.
Zebras bite like any other animal when agitated, in distress, mating season, and or feel threatened.
Since this is ”private” farmland for exotic animals. Why is it that people of public persuasion, had access to this farm? To our knowledge, any type of private land is closed to the public and yet people seem to visit there often. Occasionally, having weddings and or feeding the animals there. As you will see on the Facebook page – https://m.facebook.com/pages/Brookhaven-Farm/Brookhaven-Farm/161788680506207
Hopefully, the officers on this case can investigate this issue appropriately where no animal will suffer due to human, sorry to say idiocy.
Guardians Of Life 
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