(play weird music...)
Posted on 04/23/2003 7:12:36 PM PDT by 11th_VA
RIVERSIDE, California (AP) - As many as 30 tigers and other big cats were found dead along with 58 dead cubs discovered in a freezer during a raid at a house, authorities said. John Weinhart, who owns the nonprofit organization Tiger Rescue, was arrested Tuesday, officials said. Weinhart previously has been accused of improperly caring for tigers at his animal sanctuary in nearby Colton, Calif.
Also arrested Tuesday was Weinhart's wife, Marla Smith, and the couple's veterinarian, Wendelin Ringel.
Weinhart and Smith were booked for investigation of child endangerment, since 13 tiger and leopard cubs - some as young as three to four weeks old - and two alligators were found at the home where their young son lives.
Weinhart and Smith posted $15,000 bail each on the child-endangerment charges and were released from custody Tuesday night, said deputy district attorney Paul Dickerson on Wednesday. Ringel also posted $5,000 bail on animal- cruelty charges and was released.
No animal-cruelty charges have been filed against Weinhart and Smith because prosecutors have not yet received reports from the California state Department of Fish and Game and Riverside County Animal Services, Dickerson said.
Fish and Game investigators raided the home after receiving an anonymous tip that Weinhart had a tiger cub and alligators on the property.
The 13 cubs were turned over to a San Diego shelter and the alligators will remain at the county's animal-services department until a suitable habitat can be found for them.
Authorities said they found a tiger cub in an undersized enclosure and another leashed in a patio area. When they opened a freezer they found the remains of 58 cubs, mostly tigers. Although Weinhart is licensed by the state to keep tigers and other big cats, Riverside County zoning ordinances prohibit the handling of exotic animals.
A spokesman for Tiger Rescue, a refuge for former animal performers, said all the animals were cared for properly.
"We don't feel we've done anything wrong," Steve Jeffries said.
"We have enough food, water and shelter for all the cats."
Jeffries said the dead cubs were kept frozen so tests could be conducted to determine how they died.
"We want to make sure there's nothing infectious," said Jeffries, who added the operation had not yet had a chance to examine the carcasses.
Animal Services spokesman Ralph Rivers said it will be impossible to determine what killed the animals because of the advanced state of decomposition of the carcasses.
"It was a very nasty scene out there," he said.
Weinhart is scheduled to stand trial next month in San Bernardino County Superior Court on 10 misdemeanour charges stemming from what prosecutors allege was improper care of tigers at Tiger Rescue.
The state Department of Fish and Game removed 10 tiger cubs from Tiger Rescue last November, saying the sanctuary didn't have the proper permits for the cubs and the agency was concerned about the animals' welfare.
All 58 of them. I'll gives Jeffries a hint. It has something to do with you.
Sounds like he is pussyfooting around. C'mon, fess up!
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