• About BCR
  • News
  • News @ BCR
  • Rescues
  • Issues
  • Cat Laws
Saturday, April 17, 2021
  • Login
  • Register
Big Cat Rescue
  • Get Involved
  • Cub Facts
  • The Sanctuary Cats
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Videos
  • Donate
No Result
View All Result
Big Cat Rescue
  • Get Involved
  • Cub Facts
  • The Sanctuary Cats
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Videos
  • Donate
No Result
View All Result
Big Cat Rescue
No Result
View All Result
Home News @ BCR

Today at Big Cat Rescue Feb 19 2013

BCR by BCR
February 19, 2013
in News @ BCR, News World
1
0
SHARES
30
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

Clipping Bobcat Claws

 

 

You might also like

DonorRecognition

Curious about Caracals? 3D 180VR

Jasmine

Precious and the Great Pretender were both on the Vet Observation Chart yesterday at Big Cat Rescue. Pretender wasn’t hungry, which never happens, and Precious was said to have a long toe nail that looked like it might be hitting her paw pad when she walked.

Precious Bobcat used to climb trees all the time, but is 21 years old and barely even uses the ramps that were constructed up into the tree for her. Pretender is also 21 and both suffer from periodic neurological symptoms, but have been in amazingly good health for their age.

It would be very risky to sedate a bobcat this old, just for a hang nail, so Dr Justin Boorstein and President Jamie Veronica came up with a plan to clip the nails while causing the least amount of danger to the bobcat. This is a long video, but pretty amazing footage that has probably never been captured before.

 

Karl Mitchell Loses Permit to Keep Big Cats

 

Shaquille the Black Leopard
Shaquille the Black Leopard formerly owned by Karl Mitchell had crushed eye sockets before being rescued by Big Cat Rescue.

The Pahrump Regional Planning Commission voted 5-0 Wednesday to revoke Karl Mitchell’s conditional use permit for an animal sanctuary to house tigers and a liger at 6061 N. Woodchips Rd.

The RPC deadlocked 3-3 last June on whether to grant the permit, then held another vote Aug. 15 where members voted 4-1 against it. But Nye County commissioners overrode the planning board by a 3-2 vote on Oct. 15.

Mitchell has a right to appeal the revocation to the county commission again after this latest rejection. He has also threatened to sue the county.

A case was brought against Mitchell for violating the terms of his conditional use permit, which prohibits the sanctuary from being open to the public or exhibiting animals. The RPC was furnished photos of people posing with Mitchell’s animals. He is also required to have permits from the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the USDA and other agencies.

Mitchell was supposed to appear at two prior revocation hearings before the RPC since the beginning of the year but asked for continuances each time.

Robert Gibbens, director of the western region for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in an Oct. 22 letter to Commissioner Dan Schinhofen, said Mitchell doesn’t possess a license under the Animal Welfare Act to exhibit his animals.

Mitchell was assessed a $16,775 penalty in 2001 for multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act. In 2010, in an order denying a petition for reconsideration, he was assessed joint penalties of $67,000 for Animal Welfare Act violations and an additional civil penalty of $19,500 for failure to cease and desist, Gibbens said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals PETA issued a press release Tuesday urging the USDA to pursue criminal charges against Mitchell for disregarding federal law and public safety, exhibiting his big cats without an exhibitor’s license. They wrote to the RPC to urge the board to revoke his permit.

“Of all the despicable animal exhibitors PETA has encountered, Karl Mitchell — who thumbs his nose at public safety and the law every time he exhibits a tiger — is one of the worst,” said PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. “The time for warnings and civil penalties has long passed. The USDA must press criminal charges and Nye County needs to enforce the local laws that make it illegal for Mitchell to have big cats in Pahrump.”

Mitchell read a prepared statement Wednesday. He said the RPC needs to stick to its land use decisions.

“The subject property is correctly zoned according to your county code and animal control has inspected it,” Mitchell said. “Our activities would not be the subject of scrutiny if we resided outside the purview of the RPC.”

Mitchell added, “it would seem to be an abuse of equal protection, an abuse of discretion and an abuse of the process to place the county in a position of carrying the water for the USDA.”

Mitchell said the county violated his constitutional rights for making USDA compliance an issue.

“The attempts to use the USDA letter is a slippery slope that will undoubtedly result in a lawsuit,” he said.

“The letter from the USDA director does not constitute an indictment or charges,” he said. “The cycle of animal rights group, jealous competitors making complaints is a causal case for USDA to make an investigation.”

He said a judge ruled in 2010 their activities on the Internet didn’t constitute regulated activities. Since 2009 Mitchell said he hasn’t received any charges or communication from the USDA.

His recent appearance on NatGeo Wild was severely edited to escalate the USDA conflict, Mitchell said. If they have to comply with regulations, Mitchell said his wife Kayla qualifies for a license.

“We live in an area that borders Pahrump planning and should be exempt. This continued harassment and bullying has resulted in my PTSD worsening, leaving me anxious and fearful of what you guys will pull next,” Mitchell said.

“Compliance with USDA with non-regulated activities places the county in a position to defend arbitrary and capricious actions,” Mitchell said.

PETA said Mitchell’s website advertised direct contact with dangerous big cats, in violation of federal law. Kayla Mitchell said their website has been updated and doesn’t contain any invitation for the public. Thus, she said, they’re not subject to regulation.

PETA said Mitchell made threatening remarks about the USDA during an episode of National Geographic’s Animal Intervention when he said, “those people could not ever come here without having one of these tigers eat them” and if someone tried to take his cats, he’d shoot them.

The discussion became a little testy when Mitchell questioned whether the RPC had a quorum. RPC Chairman Terry Hand resigned and the Pahrump Town Board has yet to appoint a liaision after town board Chair Harley Kulkin was recently rejected by the county commission. RPC member John Koenig said they had a quorum and reminded Mitchell his board has the authority to issue conditional use permits.

“He who giveth can take it away,” Koenig said.

Mitchell said, “Nobody is challenging your right, what we’re challenging is whether you’re right in doing something like that.”

Linda Halko Crossley said Mitchell’s sanctuary, which is located on the property of Ray “The Flagman” Mielzynski, has disrupted her neighborhood. She said the residents were never notified, Planning Director Steve Osborne said he notified people 500 feet away about the conditional use permit.

It’s located on 18 acres zoned rural homestead.

“I came here to Pahrump to go ahead and have a ranch and have horses and I’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s just less than a mile from where he’s temporarily housing his wild cats,” Crossley said.

“They’re disrupting the neighborhood, they’re disrupting my horses, find a different temporary holding area for his cats,” she said.

Crossley said she knows performers like Siegfried and Roy who had a show involving big cats.

“The cats have got to go. My horses are stressed out to the hilt. They smell blood, they smell urine. Yesterday there was a pack of six coyotes circling between my barn and the neighbors; she has a 3-year-old child and she was screaming,” Crossley said.

The property isn’t zoned for wild cats, she said. A little girl can’t even ride her bike for fear a cat will get loose, while her dogs are a nervous wreck.

“There’s children out there, there’s horses out there, I want my ranch back and I want my health back just as much as he does. I want those cats gone,” Crossley said.

John Bushko, a volunteer with Mitchell’s Big Cat Encounters, countered there are horse corrals on their ranch. They use it as a staging area for horse rescues for Diane Davis and Dream Chaser Horse Ranch, he said.

“A lot of county commissioners have visited, they will tell you it’s a peaceful place,” Bushko said.

Mitchell said he received emails from neighbors, one neighbor said they were quite content with the animals being there.

Mitchell concluded: “If someone else is upset I’m sorry but I don’t think it’s the tigers’ fault. The bottom line is we’re not involved in any regulated activities. We’re at odds with the USDA and we will continue to be at odds as long as animal rights people make complaints. Those complaints have to be checked out. But since 2009 there’s not been one problem with USDA that’s been presented to us.”

RPC member Greg Hafen II asked Mitchell to explain the photos of him exhibiting the animals on Facebook.

“It was a private photo shoot done on my property which is allowed. If you have pets you can do a private photo shoot, especially if you’re not doing it for commerce,” he said. “It’s exhibiting when you’re involved in commerce, when there’s money paid or something given to you.”

Koenig didn’t get a motion to revoke the permit at first and it appeared to fail. Eventually Hafen got planning staff to clarify they recommended the revocation and made the motion to revoke, based on the USDA letter and other findings.

By Mark Waite PVTimes.com

Previous Post

Today at Big Cat Rescue Feb 18 2013

Next Post

Today at Big Cat Rescue Feb 21 2013 More Wins

BCR

BCR

Big Cat Rescue is Caring for Cats and Ending the Trade

Related Posts

DonorRecognition
News @ BCR

DonorRecognition

April 3, 2021
609
Curious about Caracals? 3D 180VR
News @ BCR

Curious about Caracals? 3D 180VR

March 6, 2021
11
Good night Big Cat Rescue Friends! ? Jasmine Tigress says it’s hard work being cute! Time for nite nite! ✨ Photo: courtesy of Tanya Chute
Large Cats

Jasmine

February 1, 2021
1.6k
Alex el Tigre
Featured

Big Cat Rescue is Live 24/7 on Webcams

February 1, 2021
32k
Cub Petting Shame
Cat Laws

Cub Petting Shame

January 17, 2021
2.4k
Next Post

Today at Big Cat Rescue Feb 21 2013 More Wins

Leave a Reply

  • Default Comments (1)
  • Facebook Comments

One response to “Today at Big Cat Rescue Feb 19 2013”

  1. Susan Haughey says:
    February 20, 2013 at 2:49 am

    Thank you God!!!!!!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Help Feed Big Cats

One of the best ways to help is through general donations that can be used however it is most needed at the time.To make a general donation just click the Donate Now button below.  This is the best way to give as it has the lowest credit card processing fees and is immediate help for the cats.

Give to Big Cat Rescue

If you prefer to donate via Pay Pal, please use this link: Pay Pal

Take Action Against Abuse

Shop To Save Big Cats

More From BigCatRescue

  • Big Cat Rescue is Live 24/7 on Webcams
  • Rescue Missions
  • About Big Cat Rescue
  • Big Cat Rescue News
  • Reviews
  • Our Recent Work
  • Sanctuary FAQs
  • Big Cat TV

Sanctuary Cats

  • Jaguars
  • Leopards
  • Lions
  • Tigers
  • Bobcats
  • Canada Lynx
  • Cougars
  • Ocelots
  • Savannah Cats
  • Servals

Big Cat Information

  • Jaguars
  • Leopards
  • Lions
  • Tigers
  • Bobcats
  • Canada Lynx
  • Cougars
  • Ocelots
  • Savannah Cats
  • Servals

Ways to Help

  • Newsletter SignUp
  • Donate Now
  • Volunteer
  • Contact Us
  • View AMP Versioin
No Result
View All Result
  • About BCR
  • News @ BCR
  • Videos
  • Big Cat Facts
  • Cub Facts
  • Sanctuary Cats
  • Shop and Save Cats
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Abuse Issues
  • Contact Us

© Copyright 2021 BigCatRescue.Org. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

SAVE & ACCEPT

Add New Playlist