Lion's owner cited for failure to confine the animal

Lion's owner cited for failure to confine the animal

 

 

Associated Press - November 30, 2007 8:45 AM ET

 

PIKETON, Ohio (AP) - The owner of a lion that escaped from its cage and startled motorists along U.S. 23 in southern Ohio last week has been charged with failure to confine the animal.

 

Authorities say Terry Brumfield of rural Piketon faces three misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, including failure to provide his two lions with a clean, healthful environment.

 

Pike County Humane Agent John Owens says an inspection of Brumfield's property showed that the wood & wire cage where two lions were kept was caked with manure and littered with rotting animal carcasses.

 

Authorities say a 550-pound lion named Lambert managed to crawl out of the pen early last week but was returned to his cage after some motorists called 911.

 

Piketon is about 60 miles south of Columbus.

 

 

Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com

 

http://www.wdtn.com/Global/story.asp?S=7431368&nav=menu590_1

 

For the cats,

 

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org    MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

 

Sign our petition to protect tigers here:

 

http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=9952801&type=CU

 

Get 7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of "The Secret" here: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/TheSecret.htm 

 

This message contains information from Big Cat Rescue that may be confidential or privileged. The information contained herein is intended only for the eyes of the individual or entity named above.  You are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, disclosure, and/or copying of the information contained in this communication is strictly prohibited. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Big Cat Rescue accepts no liability for any damage or loss caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

 

Walking With Lions (Just Another Scam)

Walking with lions: How captive-bred animals can be returned to the wild

Swallowing his fear, Richard Grant braves a very close encounter with big cats

Published: 29 November 2007

It seems dreamlike, impossible. Armed with a stick and a few instructions ("Be relaxed, stand your ground, never show fear or panic...") I'm walking through the African bush with four young lions. Shoulders rolling, tails low, they look so menacing and magnificent, and so utterly capable of turning me into lunch.

This fear cannot be allowed into my mind. It will show in my body language and the lions will see it. They were born in captivity, reared by their handlers to think of humans as the dominant members of their pride. But they are opportunistic carnivores, and have an unerring ability to detect weakness and single out the easy target in a herd or group.

Two lions bound ahead, wrestling each other. Walking towards them, entranced by their play, I lose track of the dominant female as she drifts off then circles back. "Watch your back!" one of the handlers, Marvin, calls out. I turn. The lion is stalking me, head lowered, with that predatory look that the handlers call "cheeky".

I stand my ground and say, "No!" while Marvin distracts her. The look goes out of her eyes and she comes past me at a slow, nonchalant amble before flopping on the ground. "Has anyone ever been hurt doing this?" I ask. "Just the occasional scratch," replies Marvin. "You can pet her if you like." Following his instructions, I approach from the tail end, talking to the lion in firm but soothing tones, and start rubbing her vigorously on the back and sides. You don't stroke a lion gently. Their skin is eight times thicker than ours and a light touch can be annoying, like a fly on human skin. When she turns to play-bite my hand, I scratch on the ground with the stick to distract her. I give her belly a good rub and she stretches out, making a contented groan.

There are two places in Africa where you can walk with lions and both are in Zimbabwe, a country with the world's highest inflation rate, 80 per cent unemployment, and severe shortages of food and fuel under Robert Mugabe's controversial rule. I had misgivings about going there, but I didn't get so much as a hostile glance and I felt glad to be supporting the tourist industry and the Zimbabwe-based African Lion and Environmental Research Trust (Alert).

Alert is a non-profit organisation which arranges the lion walks and it is championed by such supporters as Sir Ranulph Fiennes. It also works tirelessly for lion conservation, employing local people in the process.

Since 1975, African lion populations have declined faster than any other species on the continent. Illegal hunting, loss of habitat and disease have been the main factors. A 2004 report by the African Lion Working Group puts the lion population on the continent as low as 16,500 and decreasing, with many living in isolated, inbred and doomed populations.

Alert's main aim is to breed lions then release them into the wild. This was the idea of its founder, a Zimbabwean called Andrew Conolly, who inherited some lions and motherless cubs when he bought the Antelope Park game preserve near Gweru in the Zimbabwe midlands, 20 years ago. With his wife, Wendy, he started walking the cubs in the bush.

"It was amazing to see their hunting instincts develop," Conolly says. "It wasn't something they needed to be taught. All they needed was the opportunity."

Andrew is missing his left arm. It happened when he was still learning about lions and long before he founded Alert. One night he went down to his lion enclosure, acted "overly familiar" with them and was probably lucky to lose just his arm. However, he still loves them for the indomitable predators they are. If anything, it strengthened his determination to work for their future. But he knew it wouldn't be easy.

Others had previously tried introducing captive-bred lions to the wild, almost always failing. The reasons were fourfold: individuals were released instead of prides; they weren't given the time and opportunity to hone their hunting skills; they were too habituated to humans; and they had no experience of competing with species such as hyenas.

Alert, in conjunction with a team of scientists, has come up with a four-stage programme to help to rectify these issues. During stage one, the cubs are taken from their mothers at three weeks. This may sound cruel, but mother lions are used to losing cubs, mainly because incoming males often kill all young under the age of one when they take over a pride, to bring the females into heat. Both in the wild and in captivity, these mother lions return to normal social activity within a few hours of losing their offspring.

After removing the cubs, Alert staffers bottle-feed and play with them, introducing them to meat, providing affection and discipline, and, at six weeks, beginning a regime of walks. It's during this period that tourists can help to walk the lions, their $100 fee helping to fund the programme.

For me, walking with the cubs during this phase one stage started to feel familiar and comfortable. I learnt that the lions are lazy. Sometimes you'll only get 20 paces before they flop down. We may associate lions with courage but the cubs are afraid of water, heights, shadows and most living things that move. The main reason for the walking programme is to build their confidence in the bush and to allow their hunting skills to develop. They practise on each other and sometimes on you, laying ambushes and sometimes bounding towards you in a kind of play-charge, at which point you have to raise your arms, say, "NO!"

Like domestic cats, they are much better at climbing up trees than climbing down. They hate being pinched the back of the thigh. Their tongues are astonishingly abrasive, designed to scrape animal flesh from bone.

As the cubs grow older, human contact is reduced to a minimum; instead, the lions are let out at night to hunt. By the age of two, they are killing nearly all their food, operating as a pride, and are ready for stage-two release. This involves transferring a pride into a semi-wild ecosystem of no less than 500 acres; the lions are expected to sustain themselves by hunting. Then they'll be moved into a wilder stage-three area inhabited by hyenas, where they are removed from all human contact. It's the cubs born during this stage – reared by a pride in the wild, with all their natural fear and wariness of humans intact – which can then, it is hoped, undergo a stage-four release into national parks and other protected wild areas.

Until I arrived, the Alert programme had not yet progressed past stage one, but eight other African countries had expressed interest in replenishing their lion populations this way. So it is on a hot sunny morning that I join about 80 people at the game reserve near Turk Mine, Zimbabwe, to watch the first stage-two release of lions into the fenced semi-wild ecosystem. Emotions are running high. "This has never been done," Andrew tells me. "No one has ever released a captive-born pride into the wild before."

"They look ready," says David Youldon, chief operating officer of Alert. The seven lions, five females and two males, pace their enclosure. The big male, Maxwell, has been in a fight with Phyre, an aggressive female, and both lions bear wounds on their faces. "Not so good for the cameras but normal," David tells us. "It's a hard, violent life being a lion." Sir Ranulph Fiennes, there to lend support, pulls back the gate's release bar and the seven lions pad out into their new 1,000-acre world. The crowd wishes the lions good hunting. Two tough-looking male handlers sob.

Three days later, the news is not good. Phyre and Maxwell are still fighting and the pride hasn't made a kill. It's been a week since they've eaten. Then on day four, the lions bring down an eland, and it seems from all the blood on her face that Phyre did most of the killing. "My baby!" says David, emotionally. "I'm so proud of her it's ridiculous." Two days later they bring down a warthog. The lions are doing as well in their new surroundings as anyone had dared hope. Perhaps the future of the African lion is not as fragile as it seems, after all.

Lion walks are available at Masuwe Safari Lodge (www.africanencounters. com/vicfalls/masuwe.htm) and Antelope Park (www.antelopepark. co.zw). For more information  contact alert@africanencounter.org A version of this article appears in the December edition of High Life, the British Airways magazine

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article3207748.ece

 

Carole’s note:

 

Anyone who knows anything about rehab and release will know that this whole story above is utter nonsense and that the program serves only to line the pockets of those using these lions for what amounts to petting sessions.  500 acres sounds like a lot, but is only one square mile.  It takes hundreds of square miles to sustain one pride.  If these cats were to actually be released, they would die horrible deaths from being ill trained for life in the wild and would cause human conflicts due to their lack of fear of people that would result in the extermination of all lions in the area. 

 

For the cats,

 

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org    MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

 

Sign our petition to protect tigers here:

 

http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=9952801&type=CU

 

Get 7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of "The Secret" here: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/TheSecret.htm 

 

This message contains information from Big Cat Rescue that may be confidential or privileged. The information contained herein is intended only for the eyes of the individual or entity named above.  You are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, disclosure, and/or copying of the information contained in this communication is strictly prohibited. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Big Cat Rescue accepts no liability for any damage or loss caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

 

Carnivore Preservation Trust Gets Half Mllion Upgrade

Tigers, other animals, to sleep through zoo's big tech upgrade

 

A North Carolina wildlife sanctuary is getting a half-million-dollar upgrade

Matt Hamblen     

 

November 26, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The 85 tigers and other big cats at the Carnivore Preservation Trust (CPT) in Pittsboro, N.C., may scarcely notice the hubbub, but a $500,000 communications and computing upgrade is under way to help tell their story to the world.

 

IBM and Cisco Systems Inc. began installing new gear about three weeks ago at the wildlife sanctuary. In the first phase of the project, servers and voice-over-IP phones have been installed to give the full-time staff of 10 an alternative to a patchwork of donated PCs, printers and an old phone system that relied on answering machines, said Pam Fulk, CPT's executive director.

 

Web browsing and word processing functions have been so slow "that I can press a 'next' key and have time to do my nails while I'm waiting for the page to come up," Fulk joked in an interview.

 

The older systems are still running alongside new storage and servers, enabling an online database from a third-party provider to be brought in-house. It is still too early to compare the efficiencies of the new system, Fulk said, although she expects productivity will improve. "People used to come and tell us we were out of memory because our systems are a patchwork and include cast-offs, but now we don't have to worry about it," she said.

 

The CPT's central mission of caring for rescued animals will get a lot more attention after the second and third phases of the project are completed during the next two years, Fulk said. In 2008, an online video surveillance system will be installed to monitor the animals and perimeter security. In 2009, the CPT plans to use the new system to bring streaming video to its Web site, to be used to further its efforts to educate the public about saving endangered animals.

 

"I'm really excited about the educational potential of the technology," she said. "The next couple of phases will help us provide more outreach."

 

The CPT, a nonprofit operation, runs on an annual budget of about $600,000, of which about $200,000 is donated food for the animals. A 10-person staff works with 100 volunteers who help care for the animals on a 55-acre site.

 

Fulk said she realizes how fortunate her small nonprofit is to get such a large donation. CPT chairman Rick McGee is a former IBM manager and his wife, Wendy McGee, continues to work at IBM and recently joined an adoption program for one of the animals.

 

In addition to IBM System x servers, the upgrade includes new hard drive storage and a Cisco Unified Communications system, with about 100 IP phones, soft phones and voice mail, the two companies and Fulk said.

 

 

For the cats,

 

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org    MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

 

Sign our petition to protect tigers here:

 

http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=9952801&type=CU

 

Get 7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of "The Secret" here: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/TheSecret.htm 

 

This message contains information from Big Cat Rescue that may be confidential or privileged. The information contained herein is intended only for the eyes of the individual or entity named above.  You are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, disclosure, and/or copying of the information contained in this communication is strictly prohibited. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Big Cat Rescue accepts no liability for any damage or loss caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

 

RARE SOUTH CHINA TIGER CUB BORN IN SOUTH AFRICA

(Laohu Valley Reserve, South Africa) Ms Li Quan, founder of Save China’s Tigers today announced that a male South China tiger cub was born at Laohu Valley Reserve, Free State, South Africa at 23:30, November 23rd 2007. It is truly a historic event, because it is the first time that a South China Tiger has been born outside of China. Only around 60 South China Tigers exist in captivity and less than 30 survive in the wild.

The male South China Tiger cub, is at this stage healthy and strong. He weighed 1.2 kg at birth (larger than normal), and although his eyes have not yet opened, he is already quite vocal, especially at feeding time. He is the first cub born to the female tiger, Cathay and the male tiger, TigerWoods who are both undergoing rewilding training at the Laohu Valley Reserve in South Africa.

The tigers mated continuously for five days from August 7th to 11th 2007 in the 4 ha tiger camp. The frequency of the mating culminated in 9 times in an hour. As a result the female tiger was pregnant and the entire pregnancy has lasted for 103 days.

After the birth, which took 12 hours, the four and a half year-old Cathay displayed her motherly instincts by cleaning and licking her cub, but unfortunately un-seasonally cold weather necessitated the cub being removed to prevent it from dying from exposure.

The male tiger, TigerWoods is three and a half years old and weighs approximately 140 kg. During the rewilding training of the past 3 years, he has gained a strong body and has a mischievous personality. He has yet to see his cub.

The staff at Laohu Valley monitored Cathay for 24 hours after the birth, before releasing her back into the larger tiger enclosures. She showed no adverse signs of having her cub removed. The cub is now being hand reared with the assistance of an expert from another wildlife sanctuary. Plans have been made to reintroduce the cub back to his mother at a suitable time. Afterwards it will undergo the same rewilding training as the older tigers did when they came to South Africa as cubs.

“The rewilding programme of these highly endangered South China Tigers has taken a major step forward with the birth of this cub” Ms Li Quan said. “The tigers brought to South Africa from China have now not only proven they can hunt and fend for themselves, they have also proven that cubs can be bred in a natural environment,” she continued. “This event has given new impetus to the project,” she concluded.

Some major conservation groups have written off the Chinese Tiger as ‘functionally extinct’ but Save China’s Tigers, the charity which initiated and manages this project, aims to take zoo born tigers from China, rewild them and allow them to learn to hunt for themselves again and to then breed them before returning the wild off-spring back to China.

Since 2003, 4 tigers have undergone rewilding training at Laohu Valley Reserve, 600 km from Johannesburg, the biggest city in South Africa. They have learnt to cope with the elements and to catch a variety of prey from wild guinea fowl and hares to blesbok. They have learnt the necessary hunting skills using stalking and camouflage techniques. To date they have successfully hunted more than 60 blesbok, proving that their natural instinct to hunt has been awakened.

Laohu Valley Reserve covers 330 square kilometers of land in both the Free State and Northern Cape Provinces. There are more than 10 species of endemic game on the reserve including blesbok, eland, springbok, black wildebeest, zebra, ostrich, gemsbok, as well as some small predators such as jackal, caracal and African wild cat.

With the birth of this cub, the project is entering in a brand new stage. China is also doing preparation work to establish a Pilot reserve for the eventual return of these rewilded tigers.

http://english.savechinastigers.org/node/347

Cheetah cub escapes by scaling wall at St. Louis Zoo

Posted November 21, 2007

 

Cheetah cub escapes by scaling wall at St. Louis Zoo

 

The Associated Press

 

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Zoo officials on Tuesday were trying to figure out how a year-old cheetah managed to get out of its exhibit a day earlier.

 

 

The cheetah scaled a wall at least 10 feet tall on Monday and got into a rocky area that separates animals from people at the River’s Edge exhibit. The area was quickly evacuated. Twenty-seven minutes later, the cheetah was found, tranquilized and returned unharmed to its exhibit.

 

"We have no idea how the cat got up there," said Jack Grisham, vice president of animal collection for the zoo. "We have a million theories. It could have been the cats playing with one another and it made the lucky jump — or unlucky jump."

 

The cheetah, a female named Zuri, weighs 40 to 45 pounds, Grisham said. She is one of four born on Nov. 10, 2006, at the zoo — the first new litter here since 1992.

 

One of the cheetahs died a month later.

 

Grisham said a visitor noticed the loose cheetah and notified a zoo worker. Security workers cleared the River’s Edge area and all zoo visitors were told to get inside a building.

 

Grisham said the animal apparently did not threaten any patrons.

 

Cheetahs are more docile than most other big cats, Grisham said.

 

Still, "any wild animal could be a danger to the public," he said. "These animals are not pets."

 

The incident marked the third time since 2000 that a cheetah has escaped from the zoo enclosure. In both previous instances, changes were made to offer better protection to the public — fencing was increased and a moat separating the animals and visitors was widened.

 

Zoo officials were evaluating if additional changes need to be made. Grisham said a cheetah under normal circumstances shouldn’t be able to jump to the top of a 10-foot fence.

 

http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071121/APC0101/71121082

 

NV Exotic Animal Law Takes Effect In Nye County

Exotic Animal Law Takes Effect In Nye County

 

Posted: Nov 19, 2007 06:50 PM EST

 

The rules are changing for anyone who owns an exotic pet in Nye County.

 

There is now a law requiring special use permits for all exotic pets.

 

The animals must be inspected once a year, as well as the animals' homes, all animal sanctuaries and kennels.

 

The ordinance is effective today.

 

http://www.ktnv.com/global/story.asp?s=7384094

Ashville Game Farm History

Ashville Game Farm Loses Big Cat License

 

 

By JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian

 

11/20/2007 Ballston Spa, NY: The owner of a Washington County zoo whose tiger scratched a 4-year-old boy at the Saratoga County Fair in 2006 is no longer permitted to own big cats, the Saratoga County District Attorney's Office said.

 

Jeffrey Ash, owner of Ashville Game Farm, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Saratoga County Court to giving the Saratoga County Fair faked insurance documents and also to not leaving enough space between the tiger and the public at the fair.

 

As a result, Ash, 54, of Greenwich, is no longer permitted to own lions, tigers or leopards, Murphy said. He'll be in court in Ballston Spa Jan. 19 for sentencing and will then have six months to remove all eight big cats from his property. He will also serve three years of probation.

 

"I just want to make sure they are going to the right home," Ash said by phone Tuesday. "We've raised them from babies."

 

The menagerie includes two African lions, tigers, mountain lions and leopard. Ash said he'll keep the business going by displaying other exotic animals that don't pose as much of a risk, like camels.

 

District Attorney James A. Murphy III said the state Department of Conservation will also investigate Ash with an eye toward possibly banning Ash from owning and displaying bears as well.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates zoos. Ashville Game Farm has not had any enforcement action taken against it previously, said USDA spokeswoman Jessica Danielle Milteer. Inspection reports for the facility were only available through the federal Freedom of Information Law. The Saratogian has filed a FOIA request.

 

Riley Willard, now 5, was sitting on a bench at the fair in 2006 getting his picture taken with a baby kangaroo when a Bengal tiger reached through its cage and swiped at his forehead.

 

The boy needed 14 stitches.

 

Riley's family sued the fair, prompting officials there to discover that Ash provided them with a faked insurance certificate in order to bring the animals on the grounds.

 

 

Ash pleaded Tuesday to second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a misdemeanor in satisfaction of that part of the case, Murphy said.

 

The Saratoga County Fair no longer accepts faxed insurance documents from vendors at the fair, General Manager Dick Rowland said Tuesday. A fax from an insurance company is OK initially, but must be backed up by a certified copy from the insurance company.

 

"What we do is we spot check," Rowland said. "We call the insurance company and make sure the coverage is in place."

 

The fair's insurance company settled with the Willard family for $32,500, according to papers on file at the Saratoga County Clerk's Office.

 

"Something can always go wrong," Rowland said, adding that the tiger wasn't a problem before the incident. "The rest of the week it lay in the cage and slept," he said.

 

"You wouldn't think situations like that would arise."

 

The fair wasn't the first time Ash had been in the news. In 2005 another tiger named Tehan escaped form the Ash's zoo on a rural road east of Schuylerville. The cat was recovered with out incident, but area schools kept children inside from recess.

 

"I can't believe he's still in business," Rowland said.

 

http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=

 

19044227&BRD=1169&PAG=461&dept_id=602469&rfi=6

 

Jeff Ash's Game Farm to Lose Big Cats

 

Greenwich wildlife zoo owner pleads guilty to charge related to 2006 tiger slashing at fair

 

By CHRISTEN GOWAN, Staff writer

First published: Wednesday, November 21, 2007

 

BALLSTON SPA -- The Ashville Game Farm is expected to lose its large exotic animals -- such as lions, tigers and leopards -- by the middle of next year and may also be banned from owning bears, according to Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy.

 

The game farm's owner, Jeffrey Ash of Greenwich, has pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from a 2006 incident in which a 4-year-old was scratched by one of his tigers. Part of the plea deal requires Ash to sell the large animals within six months of his sentencing, scheduled for January.

 

 

According to the game farm's Web site, the facility owns 14 such animals. The game farm also houses other wildlife, such as monkeys and goats.

 

In 2006, a Ballston Spa boy was scratched by Calcutta, Ash's 400-pound royal white Bengal tiger, at the Saratoga County Fair. The animal reached out of the cage and swiped the child on the forehead while he posed for a picture with a baby kangaroo. The boy sustained minor injuries.

 

Fair officials discovered Ash's insurance documents had been forged.

 

Ash, 54, pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a class A misdemeanor, Murphy said. He also pleaded guilty to violating his environmental conservation permit, Murphy said. Ash is expected to get three years probation.

 

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=640880&category=

 

REGION&newsdate=11/21/2007

 

 

Game farm owner convicted

 

Updated: 11/20/2007 10:54 PM

By: Web Staff

 

 

BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. -- The owner of the Ashville Game Farm has been convicted of charges stemming from an incident in July 2006, when a young boy was injured by a tiger.

 

Jeffrey Ash violated conditions of his permit at the farm for failing to build a sufficient barrier between the animals and the public.

 

The accident happened when a boy was getting his picture taken near the tiger cage at the Saratoga County Fair.

 

That's when a white tiger reached through the cage and scratched the boy on the forehead. He was taken to the hospital for treatment but has made a full recovery.

 

 

WATCH THE VIDEO

 

 

Owner of game farm convicted of violations The owner of the Ashville Game Farm has been convicted of charges stemming from an incident in July 2006, when a young boy was injured by a tiger.

 

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=225514&SecID=33

 

 

 

 

Greenwich game farm to lose big animals

 

 

 

By CHRISTEN GOWAN, Staff writer

Last updated: 2:59 p.m., Tuesday, November 20, 2007

 

BALLSTON SPA -- The owner of the Ashville Game Farm in Greenwich has pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from a 2006 incident in which a 4-year-old was scratched by one of his tigers.

 

The owner also has been banned from owning large exotic animals like lions, tigers and leopards, meaning he is required to sell such animals within six months of sentencing.

 

Jeffrey Ash of Greenwich, 54, pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a class A misdemeanor, and to an environmental conservation law violation for violating his permit to own exotic animals, according to Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy.

 

Ash was charged with the misdemeanor after Saratoga County Fair officials discovered that his insurance documents to display animals at the fair had been forged. Murphy said that Ash also didn't properly cage his animals while at the fair.

 

In 2006, the Ballston Spa boy was scratched by Calcutta, Ash's 400-pound royal white Bengal tiger. The animal reached out of the cage and swiped the kid on the forehead while he posed for a picture with a baby kangaroo. The kid sustained minor injuries.

 

Ash, who is scheduled to be sentenced in January, is expected to get three years probation.

 

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=640668&

 

category=&BCCode=&newsdate=11/20/2007

 

 

 

Owner of a Tiger That Scratched a Boy Must Give it Up

 

Last Update: 11/20 6:25 pm

 

The owner of a white tiger cub that scratched and injured a boy at the Saratoga county fair last year will no longer be allow to own animals like that.

 

54-year-old Jeffrey Ash of Greenwich, owner of the Ashville game farm, has been convicted of possession of a forged instrument for giving fair officials bogus insurance information back in 2006.

 

Then 4-year-old Riley Willard needed 14 stitches after the tiger cub scratched him while the boy sat on a nearby bench.

 

Ash must remove any lions, tigers or similar animals from his zoo and will get 3 years probation as part of a guilty plea.

 

Ash will be sentenced in January

 

http://www.fox23news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_

 

id=24eff5ca-fc53-45f3-a1aa-52bb4f3e2510

 

 

 

Man pleads guilty in 2006 county fair tiger scratch case

 

By NICK REISMAN

reisman@poststar.com

Updated: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 1:28 PM EST

 

A Greenwich man will lose the lions, tigers and leopards in his menagerie after a Saratoga County court ruled Monday that one of his large cats was liable in the injury of a six-year-old boy last year.

 

Jeffrey Ash, 54, pleaded guilty to several misdemeanor charges that included having improper insurance at the time of the boy’s injury and failing to keep his animals safely penned in cages.

 

The case stems from an incident in 2006 when a 6-year-old boy was injured when one of Ash’s tigers scratched his forehead while the boy posed for a picture at Ash’s booth at the Saratoga County Fair.

 

"While we cannot charge or prosecute Mr. Ash for the assault committed by the tiger, we can hold him responsible under the permitting process for his failure to make the public safe," said Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy.

 

The court ruled that Ash must turn his large cats over to a licensed third party. Ash, who owns the Ashville Game Farm, may also have to forfeit several of his bears, Murphy said. Ash will also be on probation for three years.

 

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/11/20/news/latest/

 

doc474318ec3c960262055092.txt

 

 

 

 

Owner of tiger that clawed NY boy faces forgery charge

 

 

 

By CHARLES FIEGL, cfiegl@poststar.com

Sunday, January 28, 2007

 

The owner of the Ashville Game Farm was in court last week to answer a felony forgery charge in connection with providing a forged insurance certificate to the Saratoga County Fair last summer, officials said.

 

Jeffrey W. Ash operates the game farm in Greenwich and is the owner of a white Bengal tiger that clawed 4-year-old Riley Willard at the county fair in July. The Willard family, of Ballston Spa, is seeking to recover damages from Ash and the fair because of the incident.

 

After receiving a notice of claim from the family, the fair's insurance carrier reviewed a proof-of-insurance document sent to the fair by Ash, said Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III. The insurance company alleged it was fake, he said.

 

Ash, 53, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument after an investigation by the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office, Murphy said. He pleaded not guilty to the charge in Ballston Spa Village Court Monday.

 

An investigation into whether Ash provided the fair with other false information is continuing, Murphy said. The case could later go before a grand jury, he said.

 

Ash's lawyer, Kurt Mausert, said he would not comment on the alleged forged instrument.

 

Mausert said what happened last July was an unforeseen accident. Ash has experience setting up similar exhibits, Mausert said, and the attorney is unaware of any similar accidents involving Ash's animals.

 

Mausert said he has since taken a tour of Ash's game farm and noted that he takes good care of the animals.

 

"I was impressed with the cleanliness and how nice the facility was," Mausert said. "All of the animals are healthy and well cared for. He's taken extra cautionary measures to raise the height of the cages, double-layer the fences and double-lock the cage doors."

 

Accounts of the July 18 fair incident differ between the Willards and representatives for the game farm.

 

Jennifer Willard, Riley's mother, said her son was in awe of the exotic animals on display when they came across the Ashville Game Farm exhibit. Willard agreed to have her son sit on a bench and have his picture taken with a baby kangaroo. Willard sat with her son until the kangaroo was in place and the photographer was ready.

 

Calcutta, the white Bengal tiger, was in a cage behind the bench.

 

"I stood up to get out of the picture, then I glanced away for 10 seconds and the tiger's claw was in his head," Willard said.

 

Riley was pulled back toward the tiger cage, Willard said. A game farm employee needed to pull the tiger's paw from Riley's head, she said.

 

The boy suffered a gash about an inch long on his forehead that required 14 stitches, she said. A scar and bump remain on Riley's head, she added.

 

Workers for the game farm said at the time that the tiger was curious after smelling the kangaroo within its reach and tried to play with it.

 

They said the incident was not an attack and Calcutta is one of the "sweetest animals in the world."

 

The Willard's lawyer, Dan Dagostino, of Martin, Harding and Mazzotti, said the family is looking to recoup medical expenses and other damages. Doctors are still trying to determine the emotional impact this has had on the family, he said.

 

Ash and the fair are responsible for not providing a safe environment for Riley, Dagostino said.

 

Rowland disagreed.

 

"We had no control over the placement of the cage or the bench in the booth," Rowland said. "We did not create the situation or put the child in that situation. What we did was rent him the land."

 

Rowland said Ash and his animals will not be welcomed back, but the fair will still allow exotic animals to be on display.

 

Ash was charged with a misdemeanor in connection with failing to exercise due care to safeguard the public from a wild animal attack that caused bodily harm under the state agriculture and markets law in July.

 

He was then cited in August by the state Department of Environmental Conservation with several permit violations.

 

The misdemeanor charge will be part of the felony case, Murphy said.

 

In 2005, a full-grown female tiger escaped from Ash's game farm and zoo. It remained at large for more than three hours and was captured without incident.

 

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/01/28/news/

 

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Inside Edition Exposes Jeff Ash Auctioning Off Zoo Animals

 

 

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 9/28/2006

 

Anyone who wants a pet these days can simply go to the local animal shelter and adopt one of the thousands of pets who are in need of a home. However, for some, exotic animals are the only way to go when it comes to pets. But do they make good pets?

 

INSIDE EDITION traveled to rural Mt. Hope, Ohio, about sixty miles south of Cleveland, for a very unusual auction. Hundreds of people from across the country crammed into a giant barn to bid on exotic animals. A curpachian monkey went for $5,000 dollars, a kangaroo for $1000 and a lemur for $1200. Also available were zebras, alligators, monkeys, camels and lions.

 

Signs posted in the barn say "Danger," suggesting the animals are not as cute and cuddly as they may seem.

 

INSIDE EDITION took hidden cameras to the auction accompanied by Tim Harrison, a police officer in another Ohio county who is also an animal expert, and is often called upon when exotic animals escape.

 

Harrison says events like these are typical of exotic animal auctions across the country, and that "Exotic animals need to be left in the wild."

 

The auction is legal in Ohio, but Harrison says some of the buyers are likely to take the animals back to states and counties where they are forbidden.

 

The animals look cute and harmless when they are purchased, but in a year or so, many will be full-grown and extremely difficult to handle, not to mention dangerous.

 

In March 2000, while visiting relatives, a boy almost got his arm ripped off by a pet tiger. In 1999 a 10-year-old was killed by a pet tiger in her father's ex-wife's backyard.

 

So where do these exotic animals come from? One man selling some animals at the Ohio auction is Jeff Ash. INSIDE EDITION was able to trace him back to a small zoo that he owns in upstate New York, loaded with exotic animals.

 

Asked if there was any danger to Mr. Ash's breeding and selling of these exotic animals, Ash's lawyer said, "There's a danger to anything. There's a danger to owning a German Shepard."

 

Ash says he never sells an exotic animal to someone who isn't qualified to handle them, but Harrison says that's hard to do when you're selling them to the highest bidder.

 

http://www.insideedition.com/ourstories/reports/story.aspx?storyid=395

 

 

 

NY game farm cited for violations

 

 

 

By CHARLES FIEGL, cfiegl@poststar.com

Thursday, September 14, 2006 6:15 AM EDT

 

GREENWICH -- A recent investigation by the state Department of Environmental Conservation found the Ashville Game Farm and Exotic Zoo had more animals than its permits allowed.

 

The Department of Environmental Conservation inspected the game farm and zoo last month after a white tiger owned by the zoo scratched a 4-year-old Milton boy at the Saratoga County Fair on July 18. The boy suffered a gash about an inch long and needed 14 stitches to close the wound.

 

The game farm's owner, Jeffrey W. Ash, of Lick Springs Road, was charged with a misdemeanor and was cited for a violation after the incident, according to the DEC.

 

The department later launched its investigation and discovered the game farm was not in compliance with some of its permits to keep animals, according to information obtained by The Post-Star through the state's Freedom of Information Law. Department officials ticketed Ash for 15 license or permit violations on Aug. 7 and 9.

 

Similar game farms exist in Washington County and have previously been cited for exotic animal permit violations. In New York, owners of large, wild mammals must obtain a license from the federal government in addition to state permits. The owner must be trained to monitor the animals or find a veterinarian for the job, and he or she must prove the animals are being kept for breeding, exhibition or research.

 

Owners must also agree to adhere to standards of the Animal Welfare Act and must allow periodic inspections of their facilities.

 

Municipalities may have their own regulations for keeping exotic animals as pets, but most rural areas do not.

 

Ash said the department's investigation and the incident at the fair are not related. He also said some of the tickets issued by the department were "bogus."

 

He said during a telephone interview that the department issued multiple tickets for one violation. According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, Ash has two dangerous wildlife licenses allowing him to