Is Wildcat Law too Tame

The cougar named Liberty scoots around her pen at the Wildcat Sanctuary on twisted legs and a deformed spine, hungry for every bit of chicken that senior keeper Trista Campbell pulls out of a red pail with long metal forceps. Liberty charges the fence for her meal, devours it, and cries for more.

It's a wet, cold morning at the Pine County sanctuary, where 101 wildcats -- tigers, lions, lynx, bobcats, African servals and more -- roam through the mud behind tall wire fences, watching passing humans with shrewd interest. Like Liberty, each has a sad story. The nonprofit sanctuary isn't a zoo but a final destination for mistreated wildcats once owned as pets.

"I'm kind of tired of animals paying the price for human mistakes," said Tammy Quist, the sanctuary's founder. "Especially when it's preventable under a law we can enforce."

Three years after a new Minnesota law restricted private ownership of so-called "exotic" wildcats -- in large measure to protect people against fatal attacks -- Quist and others associated with the sanctuary say that enforcement of the law has fallen short. None of the 39 wildcats seized or surrendered since the law was enacted in 2005 was registered or otherwise compliant with the law, Quist said, and she said she knows other wildcats are being kept in Minnesota by private owners who don't fear enforcement or didn't know about the law.

Records at the state Board of Animal Health show 45 wildcats registered in Minnesota through last June -- only one more than two years ago. There's no way to measure whether the new law is discouraging ownership of dangerous cats or to what extent people are being prosecuted, because enforcement lies with city and county animal-control authorities, said Kris Petrini, a veterinarian at the board.

"It's really hard to get a read on it," said Bill Forbes, a Bloomington animal-control officer and member of the Minnesota Animal Control Association. He said the law is good but enforcement depends on a "patchwork" of authorities in cities and counties who in many cases don't have training and equipment to deal with big cats. No records are kept that would show a statewide picture of seizures, prosecutions and other actions involving wildcats, he said.

While nobody knows how many illegal wildcats might be kept in Minnesota, stories continue to circulate about residents who keep dangerous cats in basements, corn cribs, chicken coops, garages, barns and even bedrooms -- often barely restrained. Quist said she received 27 complaints or inquiries last year from Minnesotans. Most of the wildcats involved, she said, appeared to be unregistered. She referred the callers to their local animal-control authorities.

The new law prohibits Minnesotans from buying or owning big cats, such as lions, tigers and leopards, except if the animal was owned before Jan. 1, 2005. But the law also requires those longtime owners to have a written plan to recapture escaped animals and to meet Department of Agriculture requirements for caging, including having a perimeter fence around primary enclosures. Regulated-animal signs must be posted, and wildcats must be registered with local animal-control authorities, who in rural counties might be the sheriff.

"To a great degree, it's a reactionary law. There isn't anybody going out to inspect farms to see if they've got a tiger out there," said Dr. John Baillie, a Lake Elmo veterinarian who provides medical care for wildcats at the sanctuary.

"At least now we have some rules and they can be enforced, but I still believe there are animals being acquired and owned in Minnesota against the law," he said.

A Goodhue County man was prosecuted in 2006 after he was found to have seven tigers behind a board fence tied with string. He eventually pleaded guilty to possessing regulated animals. Authorities seized the tigers and shipped them out of state.

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Carol Lee, an assistant attorney in Goodhue County, said that while some people think that owning a big cat is nobody's business but their own, the law gives local authorities clear direction to prosecute. "I think the lesson learned from this is that you nip these things in the bud before people have a sense of entitlement," she said.

The first tigers seized under the law belonged to Cynthia Gamble, a Pine County resident who was mauled and killed two years ago by Tango, her starving Bengal tiger. Tango was destroyed, but his brother, Titan, and another tiger, Lilly, came to the Wildcat Sanctuary in terrible condition. Several other attacks have been reported in Minnesota in recent years, including one on a 10-year-old Royalton boy, who was critically injured. In other instances, wildcats got loose and ran away.

Baillie said Minnesotans shouldn't underestimate the threat to public safety. "There is a certain amount of risk when these animals do get loose or something happens to the one owner who can handle them," he said.

Quist said owners sometimes want to turn their wildcats over to the sanctuary until they find out they would have to donate money to build a habitat. Tigers, especially, require high-security fencing and ample room to roam.

Emaciated and dehydrated, Liberty came to the Wildcat Sanctuary in March from a farm near Buffalo Lake, Minn. Quist said Liberty's name is a cruel irony, given that her owner confined her to the point that she's crippled and anxious that she won't be fed. But Quist said the sanctuary, funded entirely by private donations, is full of sad stories.

"It only takes one person to starve or hurt an animal," she said. "It takes about 100 to save it."

Kevin Giles • 651-298-1554