Zepo's Story

Zepo lets out a quiet, continuous hiss as Streff approaches the cage. He's just inside the porch door of a small, unremarkable home in a wealthy southwest suburb, packed up and ready to go. Zepo is an African serval, a kind of miniature cheetah, with a small, lean, spotted body, a fluffy striped tail, and large, perky ears. It's illegal to have this kind of exotic cat in this city, as well as in many urban areas.

Streff got some complaints about an exotic cat in the area and tracked down the owner. Through a series of conversations, Streff convinced the man to voluntarily give up the animal, which had become a little much for him to handle, to the humane society. This is one of those cases that straddle the gray area between education and enforcement; Streff doesn't plan to have the man charged. "He's just a little guy," Streff tells the man, in reference to Zepo. "You can't have him in the city of Edina, so in the best interest of the cat and the interest of your criminality, we'd best sign a custodial agreement."

As he fills out the forms, Streff asks the owner a few questions about Zepo, but it's clear that the man doesn't know much about the history of the cat, which he found through newspaper classifieds. He bought the serval about five months ago from a man who had gotten it from a game farm somewhere. He wasn't sure if it had been vaccinated or neutered. All he knew was that the cat was born in November 1999.

"What prompted you into getting it?" Streff asks. "I'd wanted one for a couple of years, and I finally saw one in the paper," the man explains. Streff doesn't even blink. "Why a serval?" he continues. "Why not a bobcat or a lynx?" "I heard they're more docile," the man says, adding that the animal turned out to be quite temperamental. When Zepo leapt up and ate the owner's lovebird in its cage, he realized he couldn't take care of the cat. "If he's hungry, he'll bite at your feet," he says. "He bit my girlfriend a couple of months ago. But she hasn't gotten sick."

The owner signs the release form and Streff prepares to take the cat away. It's an all too rare example of the times when Streff actually gets to save an animal; the humane society will turn the serval over to an exotic-cat refuge in Isanti County. "I would suggest you research your city's ordinances if you ever consider getting another exotic pet," he tells the man. "You can be issued a citation for an exotic animal that is considered contraband."