What you should know
- An 11-month-old cougar was taken from a home in New York City last week after the owner turned the animal over to authorities.
- The cougar is heading to Turpentine Creek, an accredited sanctuary where it will receive lifelong care.
- NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the case is currently under investigation and no further information is available at this time.
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NEW YORK – An 11-month-old cougar was taken from a New York City home last week after the owner turned the animal over to authorities.
The Humane Society of the United States (or HSUS) was on the scene with the owner who delivered the 80-pound cougar Thursday night, meanwhile, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (or NYSDEC for its acronym in English) and the NYPD also worked to remove the animal safely from the home and transport it to the Bronx Zoo, where it was examined and cared for by veterinarians and staff over the weekend until its transport to a Arkansas Animal Sanctuary Monday afternoon.
The cougar is heading to Turpentine Creek, an accredited sanctuary where it will receive lifelong care.
According to officials, New York has long witnessed cases involving wild and dangerous animals in private residences that threaten public safety. Such cases include one in 2003 where the New York Police Department removed an adult tiger from a Harlem apartment with the help of Bronx Zoo staff, and another in 2004 when a child in Suffolk County was attacked by a leopard that was his father’s pet.
Sara Amundson, president of the Legislative Fund of the Humane Society, said the general public cannot meet the “complex needs” of cougars.
“A majestic species native to the United States and much of the Americas, cougars thrive in their natural habitats, not in a city,” Amundson said. “Individuals and unqualified entities simply cannot meet the complex needs of these wild animals. The sad situation from which Sasha is being rescued is an example of why Congress must, once and for all, pass the Law of Public Safety of the Big Cats “.
If signed into law, the Big Cat Public Safety Act will strengthen existing laws to prohibit the breeding and possession of big cat species such as lions, tigers, cheetahs and jaguars, except by qualified entities.
In general, in 2020, New York increased its regulation on the ownership of wild animals.
The Director of Animal Disaster Response for the Humane Society of the United States, Kelly Donithan, who was on the scene with the cougar and assisted with its transport, said that in this case the owner realized that the animal did not it was suitable for living in a domestic environment, but other animals are not so lucky.
“I have never seen a cougar in the wild, but I have seen them on leashes, squashed in cages and crying for their mothers when the breeders pluck them from them,” Donithan said in a statement. “I have also seen the anguish of the owners, as in this case, after they were sold not just a wild animal, but a false dream that they could make a good ‘pet.’ This cougar is relatively fortunate that its owners recognized that a wild cat is not fit to live in an apartment or any domestic environment. The owner’s tears and the nervous squeaks of the cougar as we painfully carry her reveal the many victims of this horrendous trade and the myth that wild animals belong anywhere. part less to nature “.
NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos echoed similar sentiments, saying in a statement that “wildlife like cougars are not pets.”
“Although cougars can look cute and cuddly when they are young, these animals can become unpredictable and dangerous,” Seggos said. “The NYSDEC thanks our partners from the New York Police Department, the Humane Society of the United States, the Bronx Zoo Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge for their efforts to promote the delivery of this wild animal and transport it to a safe place. “
Meanwhile, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the case is currently under investigation and no further information is available at this time.
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