Tigers, leopards rescued in Charlotte County
March 28th, 2007 by admin
We don’t know what Zelph Ridgeway was thinking. For years, Mr. Ridgeway has operated a reptile breeding facility in Port Charlotte. But, according to his website, he had big plans- opening a “Reptile Park” and an alligator farm, and adding tigers, lions and leopards to “our collection of exotic animals.” We don’t know if there’s been progress with the park or farm (we hope not), but his plans to acquire big cats have fortunately been squashed.
In January, state fish & wildlife officers seized three adult tigers from his property. On Monday, officers returned to confiscate two panthers and two leopards. Mr. Ridgeway had acquired the dangerous animals without first obtaining the required state licenses or constructing a facility that could meet even the minimal standards of Florida law. He told the Charlotte Sun-Herald: “I realize now I’m never going to have the animals I want here.”
A Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission officer told the Fort Myers News-Press that the animals “are not in good shape.” According to the paper, “The leopards were being kept inside two cages in the back of a van parked in a wooded vacant lot across from Ridgeway’s home. The leopards were in the van, which reached temperatures of more than 90 degrees, for around 48 hours.”
Mr. Ridgway has been charged with five misdemeanor license and facility violations. But he has not yet been charged with animal cruelty. Please contact the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and demand that animal cruelty charges be filed against Zelph Ridgeway for cruelly confining leopards in a hot vehicle for days.
The fiasco also offered insight into the exotic animal trade in the U.S. The Sun-Herald explained how Ridgeway’s unfortunate animals were shuttled between facilities and across state lines: “the tigers had been in a North Carolina facility that shut down. They were then transferred to a Georgia facility, which offered them to Ridgeway.”
Contact:
FWC - Division of Law Enforcement
Phone: (850) 488-6251
Online comment form.