The Kalamazoo Gazette |
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Jones Man Must Give Up Cougars
JONES -- Every morning for more than six years, Harold Brown got up at 8 a.m. or returned from his radiator shop at 5:30 p.m. to feed something that terrified the dogs and cats of his Cass County neighbors. Hands loaded with a mix of venison, chicken and beef -- six pounds in the summer and eight to 10 in the winter -- Brown, 57, would walk out to the small steel pole barn in his front yard to feed his pets. The pets are two mature mountain lions, kept in pens 5 feet wide, 10 feet long, and 8 feet high. Their proud owner has showed them off to friends, neighbors and even Boy Scouts, though only he has been in the cages. The trouble is, they're illegal. And unless something changes, Brown will lose the animals Saturday. "I want to keep my cats," Brown said. "If a person ain't never had them, ain't never been around them, they think they're fierce beasts, and they're not." Officer Jeff Robinette of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources discovered the animals inside the barn. "It's just a classic situation of somebody who had something they weren't supposed to, and they got caught and, hopefully, it's a lesson to people," Robinette said. Also known as cougars, the animals are a 100-pound female named Nada and a 170- to 180-pound male named DJ. Brown described himself as an animal person and said he's raised ranch foxes to sell for pets. He first became interested in the animals when he saw a friend's small female cougar. "I was so intrigued with them, and they were so cute," Brown said. But keeping the cougars without a permit is a misdemeanor. Robinette said that for cooperating with authorities, Brown might be able to avoid state and federal fines. Brown said he has not let the cougars outside the barn. "They had plenty of room; I mean, they weren't cramped," Brown said. "I raised these guys; they're like a part of my family." But Patrick Fetherston, Cass County director of animal control, said the conditions at Brown's home violate a number of standards. "What happens if and when they got out?" Fetherston said. "There's always a risk of an animal escaping." Under the state's Large Carnivore Act of 2000, cougar owners can keep the cats legally as long as they register with county animal-control authorities within 90 days. "Had he complied with the statutes at the time that he needed to, he could have kept them," Fetherston said. "It's now 2004; 90 days is well over." Brown said he was going through a divorce in 2000 and was ignorant of the law. Still, he said, he appreciates everything authorities have done. Brown said he cannot remember the names of the people who sold him the cougars or whether they came from Missouri or Wisconsin. He does remember driving to an out-of-state auction to buy a pair of black buck deer and coming home with 5-month-old and 6-month-old cougars instead. "They still eat treats out of my fingers, and I've still got my fingers," Brown said. "They're no threat to no one but me." Cougars, though, are a protected animal in Michigan, so Brown is considered a threat to them. "I need help," Brown said. "It's going to take a governor's phone call and a little bit of ink pen to get that changed. But I can't get through." Until 5 p.m. Saturday, Brown said, he will keep hoping. "I have no idea what (Gov.) Jennifer Granholm would do," Robinette said. Wherever the animals end up, Brown said, he would like to visit. Fetherston said that he talked to several zoos in Michigan, and none of them had room for the animals. Then he found Cheryl and Mike Tuller's Wildcat Haven in Sherwood, Ore. The Tullers, originally from Ida, near Ann Arbor, have already begun work on a 32-foot by 64-foot enclosure that should be ready in 45 days. Cheryl Tuller said their own funds and private donations pay for Wildcat Haven.
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