EMBATTLED LION COMES TO ACTON BIG CAT WAS AT CENTER OF COURT CUSTODY FIGHT.Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer ACTON - A lion at the center of a storm of controversy on the East Coast will arrive today at Shambala, a big cat preserve run by the Roar Foundation in Acton, blissfully unaware of how his situation has caused humans to battle in both the courts and the headlines. The big cat, dubbed ``Boomerang'' because of a custody battle Noun 1. custody battle - litigation to settle custody of the children of a divorced couple judicial proceeding, litigation - a legal proceeding in a court; a judicial contest to determine and enforce legal rights that exploded between his legal owner and the owner of an Ohio sanctuary, flew overnight from Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, city (1990 pop. 173,072), seat of Allen co., NE Ind., where the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers join to form the Maumee River; inc. 1840. It is the second largest city in the state, a major railroad and shipping point, a wholesale and distribution hub, , Ind., and was scheduled to arrive this morning at Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX . Upon on arrival at Shambala, the lion will be placed in quarantine for 30 days, to ensure he has no illnesses or problems from his previous compound. ``His real name is Uhuru,'' said actress Tippi Hedren Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930)[1] is an American actress with a career spanning six decades. She is best known for her role as Melanie Daniels in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds , who runs Shambala Preserve Shambala Preserve is wild animal preserve established in 1972 and located in Acton, California, a desert community. About Shambala is maintained by the Roar Foundation, founded by actress Tippi Hedren in 1983 as a 501(C)(3) nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization . in Acton. ``And he has a lovely tigress named Mendhi waiting for him. They're about the same age, a year and a half.'' As research for a story on exotic animal ownership, New York Post The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily.[3] Since 1976, it has been owned by Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and is one of the 10 reporter Albert Guart, with the help of animal activist William Long, bought the 8-week-old lion cub in August 2003 from an animal fair in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Before completing the purchase, Guart contacted Hedren and arranged for her to take the lion. Because of the cub's age, she advised him to take the cub to Noah's Lost Ark in Youngstown, Ohio, for a short time. Ellen Whitehouse, director of Noah's Lost Ark, alleged that Guart and Long abandoned the cub at her sanctuary and that entitled her to possession of the lion. Long called and sent letters to Whitehouse asking her to relinquish custody of the lion, which she refused. ``I thought his story was a terrific way to raise a great deal of awareness,'' Hedren said. ``She was trying to get accreditation with an association of sanctuaries and we thought this would be the perfect project to help her. We just wanted the cub to be a couple of weeks older before he traveled, but she put a whole different spin on it.'' Whitehouse's sanctuary is home to Ming, a Bengal tiger confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. from a Manhattan apartment, as well as several other big cats. Long filed suit in Mahoning County to force Noah's Lost Ark to return the lion, where the court found in his favor. The sanctuary filed an appeal, which was heard and upheld by the Mahoning County Common Pleas Trial-level courts of general jurisdiction. One of the royal common-law courts in England existing since the beginning of the thirteenth century and developing from the Curia Regis, or the King's Court. Court. Another appeal went to the 7th Ohio District Court of Appeals in August, which upheld the lower courts' decisions. The Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in December, and on Friday the appeals court refused to delay its order. Boomerang's plight set off a newspaper war between rival publications New York Post and the New York Daily News New York Daily News Morning daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson and his cousin Robert McCormick as a subsidiary of the Tribune Co. of Chicago. The first successful tabloid-format newspaper in the U.S. , the latter sponsoring a fund-raiser that garnered more than $30,000 in donations to Noah's Lost Ark for the purpose of saving the lion. Hedren was active in getting the Captive Wildlife Safety Act passed, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in December 2003. The legislation prohibits the interstate and foreign commerce of dangerous exotics such as lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars and cougars for use as pets. ``I think it's made a difference,'' she said. ``We've not seen as many since. These animals simply should not be sold as pets. Next, we've got to stop the breeding as pets; these are wild animals WILD ANIMALS. Animals in a state of nature; animals ferae naturae. Vide Animals; Ferae naturae. and they're hurting children and adults.'' Hedren said that published reports estimating 10,000 exotic cats being kept as pets in America are low. ``There are so many more than that,'' she said. Carol Rock, (661) 257-5252 carol.rock(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: A lion that was the center of a controversy and court battles on the East Coast is arriving at the Shambala Preserve. Aarron Rudolph/Morning Journal |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion