It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since Tiger King took the world by storm thanks to the wild saga that led to Joe Exotic landing in prison. The beasts under his care were subsequently relocated to new homes, and seven of them have been moved yet again after a man in Nevada was arrested in connection to the possession of the big cats he claims fall under the “emotional support animal” umbrella.
In 2020, Netflix found itself with a hit on its hands in the early days of the pandemic thanks to Tiger King, the documentary series that became an absolute sensation thanks to viewers who were absorbed by the drama stemming from the feud between Joe Exotic, the enigmatic owner of a zoo in Oklahoma, and sworn enemy Carol Baskin, the overseer of a tiger sanctuary in Florida.
The series outlined a borderline unbelievable tale involving mysterious disappearances, untimely deaths, and the feud that led to Exotic being sentenced to 21 years in prison for hiring two hitmen to kill Baskin and violating a slew of laws pertaining to the care, sale, and transportation of the tigers that were his bread and butter.
Those tigers made up the bulk of the 68 big cats that were seized when Exotic’s zoo was raided in 2019, and while most of them were relocated to dedicated animal sanctuaries, seven of them ended up in the possession of Karl Mitchell, a Nevada man who kept them on his property in the town of Pahrump in Nye County.
According to NBC News, the 71-year-old eventually attracted the attention of local authorities who asserted he didn’t have the permits required to keep the tigers on his land and came across social media posts where he illegally allowed members of the public to interact with them.
Things came to a head when police raided Mitchell’s home last week to seize the tigers before charging him with resisting arrest when he failed to give up the keys to their enclosure (they say they also discovered a handgun he wasn’t allowed to possess due to a prior felony conviction).
A veterinarian who examined the tigers said at least two of them “visibly appeared to be underweight” and also noted algae had collected in a number of water dishes.
Mitchell had previously argued Nye County had no right to force him to get a permit for big cats he argued were “emotional support animals,” although that status really only legally pertains to real estate matters that don’t seem to apply to this situation at first glance.
The tigers are currently being cared for at “an undisclosed sanctuary,” and they’ll likely remain there as Mitchell prepares for a hearing that’s currently scheduled for May 15th.
The post Nevada Man Arrested After Police Seize 7 ‘Emotional Support’ Tigers With Ties To Joe Exotic appeared first on BroBible.
Nevada Man Arrested After Police Seize 7 ‘Emotional Support’ Tigers With Ties To Joe Exotic
Pinoy Human Rights
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