Wildcat Sanctuary moving to Pine County

The Wildcat Sanctuary moving to Pine County (Quist)

Embattled wildcat refuge moving to Pine County

The Wildcat Sanctuary, which sparked controversy in Isanti  County, has found

a new location in Pine County.

Kevin Giles, Star Tribune 

Last update: April 03, 2006 – 9:17 PM

 (http://www.startribune.com/462/v-print/story/348990.html) 

A wildcat refuge embroiled in a zoning dispute in  Isanti County is moving to

Pine County.

The Wildcat Sanctuary, which houses cougars, lynx and other large cats, is 

planning an expanded habitat in Sandstone Township, Minn., where it has 

purchased 40 acres of land, said sanctuary spokeswoman Gail Plewacki. Refuge 

officials have begun moving the animals to the new location. 

"We’re feeling excited about this home, we really are," she said Monday. 

The sanctuary opened in Athens Township, Minn., in Isanti County five years 

ago when founder and Minnesota native Tammy Quist moved it from Georgia. After

a  dispute over the extended presence of a Bengal tiger named Meme, the

Athens  Township board threatened to revoke the sanctuary’s operating permit. 

Meme died of cancer in early March. 

Quist said Monday evening that the sanctuary moved the first wildcats to Pine

 County a week ago and hopes to be finished within a month. "The people here

have  been just amazing," she said. 

Roger Nelson, vice chairman of the Pine County Board, said the county is 

secluded and has no zoning ordinance governing wildcats. He thinks the board 

won’t consider one unless a problem arises. 

"I’m not too concerned about it," said Nelson, a farmer. "The bigger problem 

we have is with the natural predators, timberwolves and what not." 

Quist said the new sanctuary eventually will house more wildcats than the 

current one, which houses 19 cats on 3 acres behind trees and tall wire fences. 

The sanctuary is not a zoo but a secure refuge for wildcats that Minnesotans 

kept for pets or breeding and then abandoned. It subsists on private

donations. 

Plewacki said that once the ground thaws, the fence will be removed at the 

existing sanctuary and the property will be sold. 

The private ownership and breeding of exotic animals is considered a serious 

problem in Minnesota, but the sanctuary is the only accredited refuge in the 

Upper Midwest. 

Plewacki said that the sanctuary last year found homes for 33 tigers, most 

from Minnesota and Wisconsin, at refuges elsewhere in the United States. In 

addition, the sanctuary fields about a dozen calls a week from private owners 

who want to give away their wildcats, she said. 

The Athens Township ordinance limited the sanctuary to 20 wildcats. The 

presence of Meme, a Bengal tiger, led to a contentious public hearing that 

attracted nearly 200 people in February. The township forbids tigers but said it 

gave the sanctuary temporary verbal approval to house Meme after she was removed

 from a corn crib in Redwood Falls, Minn. Quist and other sanctuary

supporters  said they thought the approval was permanent. 

"The good and bad of it is that everyone pretty much got what they wanted," 

Quist said of the move. 

Kevin Giles • 612-673-7707 

_http://www.startribune.com/462/story/348990.html_

(http://www.startribune.com/462/story/348990.html)

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 here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431