Our EXOTIC furbabies

John your cats are amazing, it shows that you are a responsible, loving owner and you deserve to win your fight.

Originally Posted by katiemae1277

oh, trust me, no words are necessary, just reading your other posts about it I could imagine the steam coming out of your ears

this is very disappointing that a few meddlesome children and a lady who cannot control her dog are the cause of all this

Click to expand...

You know what really gets me, about the kids coming by. Their mother has no concern with the fact, that her kids keep coming over to a strangers house!! I mean lets face it, there are sexual predators out there (I am NOT one of them) But the fact remains, the mother was more worried about an animal that is secure, than she is about her kids going into the back yard of someone they do not know. These kids live about 1/4 mile away too, they are not my immediate neighbor. (The kids are about 6 and 11 years old. Boy and girl, the girl is the older one) If I had done this at their age, my mom and dad would have told me to stay out of that persons yard and NOT to go there again unless they were with me. That is just common sense!! OOOPS, I forgot, that is very rare anymore. Well, I know what I am going to do if they stop by again. I will call the sheriff, so they can see these kids trespassing on my property (I do not have a local police dept.) Then, I will call the county child services and have them check on the mother. These kids do not have a live in father. He lives somewhere else. I do not like getting anyone in trouble for anything, but if she is going to make a big deal about my cats, than she better care for her kids the right way. It should be noted here, that my immediate neighbors LOVE the bobcats and cougar. One man and woman came by with their 2 children. The woman was also pregnant. They were so fascinated with Carmelo and the bobcats. The father kept saying, this is so cool, better than going to the zoo

This is a good article to read. It's about our property rights being under attack.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16737

Can you ask your neighbours to contact the council supporting your keeping the cats? Surely if the neighbours who see how you keep them, and would be most "at risk" should Carmelo go into a wild frenzy and tear down the enclosure ( ) fully support it, it has to be a help?

Thanks for the pics as well. They are such gorgeous creatures! Carmelo has THE most beautiful, expressive face, I am so in love with him!

Just a thought.... how do you get zoo status? Can you apply to become a zoo? Would that cost a fortune to you? Surely you could keep them then!

John, thanks for new pics. I adore your big babies. I'm just sick about this turn of events, and hope you can get it worked out without too much fuss. Thinking of you and your sweeties.

Originally Posted by rapunzel47

John, thanks for new pics. I adore your big babies. I'm just sick about this turn of events, and hope you can get it worked out without too much fuss. Thinking of you and your sweeties.

Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it better!

John, I simply can't believe how much Carmelo has grown!

Originally Posted by sarahp

Can you ask your neighbours to contact the council supporting your keeping the cats? Surely if the neighbours who see how you keep them, and would be most "at risk" should Carmelo go into a wild frenzy and tear down the enclosure (

) fully support it, it has to be a help?

Thanks for the pics as well. They are such gorgeous creatures! Carmelo has THE most beautiful, expressive face, I am so in love with him!

Just a thought.... how do you get zoo status?

Can you apply to become a zoo? Would that cost a fortune to you? Surely you could keep them then!

Click to expand...

As for council, I don't have them here. We have trustees, because this isn't a city or a village, it's a township. As for the zoo status, it wouldn't be hard. I would need to get a USDA license as well. However, even though I live out in the country/township, they still have zoning laws. Since I have just under 1 acre of land, which is fine for what I have now, the zoning would not allow me to become zoo or sanctuary status. However, if I can find a place with 5 or more acres, then they can NOT regulate me. Of course, that 5 acres would not be in this township. My tax money will go to a place that has no problems with me and my cats. The township next to me has NO zoning at all. I just wish I had known about zoning before I moved here. I did the research, read the state revised code and somehow missed the zoning part. Townships in this state, can not pass any ordinances. My neighbors can make as much noise as they want, can ride dirt bikes, snowmobiles and 4 wheelers in their yard and even in the street. And here is the best part. They CAN...yes CAN shoot guns on their property, but my cats don't fit in with their zoning. Now you tell me, what is more dangerous, the guns or my cats. Of course, they would more than likely tell me that guns don't kill people, people kill people. My reply would be, zone out people In fact, this past May, we had a MURDER in this township, just across the swamp/wetlands from me. Now, something like this is very rare here. In fact, I think they said it had been 30 years since something like this happened. But still, a gun was used. Now, since this is mainly a rural area, here is some more interesting facts. A lady was killed when she hit a horse that was running loose. A farm had a BISON escape. It rammed a sheriff's cruiser as they were attempting to capture it. This farm was in state violation of an escape, but he just got a small fine and had to pay for the damages to the car. This gets me to thinking, what is more dangerous, a horse, bison or bobcat. If a car hit my bobcat if it got loose, the bobcat would be the one to suffer, not the driver. I would like to see my bobcats ram a police car, that would be a sight wouldn't it? Now a cougar yes, there is more of a risk, but not much. Horses are VERY dangerous, yet we let kids ride them, that is ok. As for the dangers of a cougar, here is an interesting fact (If I can find the source that I got this from, I will post it for all to read). In the last 100 years, there had been only 15...yes 15 reported deaths caused by WILD cougars across all of North America. I think this includes Canada as well. Deer caused like 10,000 deaths. (I believe I have this number correct. I will try to find it, but it was in the thousands) Yes...deer!! In the same time, the number of people killed by domestic dogs was also well into the thousands!! Now, I am in no way trying to say dogs should be banned, I am just pointing out the facts. Trying to let you know the truth, not the lies you hear and read from the media and AR (Animal Rights) people. As for those 15 cougar deaths. I am sure the majority of those were caused by a female who had cubs, whom she was trying to protect.

John, I simply can't believe how much Carmelo has grown!

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, he is a BIG boy now. The last time I weighed him, a little over a month ago, he was close to 96 pounds. I know he is over 100 pounds now, but he is still the lover he has always been. However, it is very close to that time, when he will need an outdoor enclosure. So, even when and if I do get more land, he won't be sleeping in bed with us like he does now. I know the trustees will not budge with Carmelo. So, he will live at our friends place until we relocate. Like I said, they don't live that far, about a 2 hour drive. There is someone there all the time, so he won't be lonely and he will see other cougars too. (He always had a good time, when we brought him there for a visit) Now, lets just hope all these good TCS vibes work out for the bobcats

Hey John. I haven't been on for a couple days and I just read about your troubles. That's the worst news I've heard in a long time. If there is anything we can do to help we would all be more than happy to. Good luck.

P.S. Considering that just about everyone on TCS loves your cats, if we start a patition, we might be able to convince them to let you keep your babies.

I've followed this thread waaay back in 04 when I first became a member. Now I've come back and have been reading this and it's so shocking! You are not keeping exotics for selfish reasons or in wrong conditions. You are following everything very well and if anyone would do their research they would see for themselves.

The pictures are marvelous, it really shows that they're completely safe and are not out to get anyone.

I wish you the best of luck, you definetely deserve to keep all of them! You have my complete support as well, just let us know what to do! Sometimes it just takes such a small thing (those kids coming over ) to turn someone's life completely around.

Just caught up with the latest news here John. So very annoying that you have to rearrange your life like this I'm sure. We're here for you the kids (cats). I'll check back for updates and if you need to talk for any reason, you can e-mail me. Good luck to you and that beautiful family of cats.

I am going to invite the trustees over next week, when I am on vacation. I will let all of you know when to make calls. We will show them that us cat lovers will no be defeated. I can't thank all of you enough for your support Yes, this is extremely hard for me. I am not sleeping well and my head, neck and shoulders hurt from the stress. All my cats are important to me, but my exotics are a big part of my life.

Sounds like you knead - er - need a cougar massage!

I'm pulling for you, John.

Just an update on what has been going on. Nothing bad, but nothing that I can call good either. What I will be doing this week, is applying for a zoning permit. If that is denied, more than likely it will be, I will go ahead and apply for a variance, which of course there is a $200 non refundable application fee.What this money is used for, I have no idea. This is their JOB to handle all the permits or variances. I guess it will help pay for the envelopes, paper and stamps, that will be used to mail notices to my neighbors, to let them know that I have applied for a variance. Must be expensive paper and envelopes Now, sending these notices out to all my neighbors could be a positive thing, since 99.99% of the people here LOVE these guys If the variance fails, then I can file for an appeal. If that goes down the tubes too, then I can go to the Court of Common Pleas. This however, will cost me legal fees. Will I take it this far? I don't know. I just have to see how the request for a zoning permit goes, the variance if the permit is denied and then my appeal. I am going to invite the trustees and their familes here to see the cats and the secure enclosure as well. If I can gain their trust or support, than they can also influence the zoning board. So, all this can and will buy me time. However, it does not buy time for Carmelo The cold weather will be here before you know it. I can not build an enclosure here for him, then have the zoning tell me no. So for now, more than likely by the end of my vacation, he will be moving. I begin vacation tomorrow. What a way to spend my vacation. Saying goodbye to my cougar, who has bonded with me like no other cat, dog or any other animal. (Even though he is moving, he will still be my cougar who I can visit and play with any time I feel. But it won't be the same as having him here with us) I won't hide it, this is killing me inside. I know there have been some who have read this thread, that feel people should never own these types of animals. With that I say, you are dead wrong and with those ideas put into the wrong people's heads, like politicians and law makers, you can really mess up someone's happy family and life...like mine. If in doubt, that you feel no one should share their lives with these awesome creatures, take a long hard look at their happy faces. Realize they are the ones who will also suffer. Unlike us, they will not understand why they had to be ripped out of their happy home. All they will know, is that they miss the ones who loved and cared for them so dearly.

I agree - what an awful way to spend your vacation - saying goodbye to your baby! And he is still a baby. Just look at those spots!

Still keeping for a favorable outcome. And skritch the kitties for me.

Yeah, he is a big baby. He is almost 15 months old. He is sooo spoiled too. In fact, I had a very hard time getting him to go outside today. He went out last night, before I went to bed. This was close to 3am (I work evening shift) I got up early, let him inside, but I tried to get him to go outside, since it is beautiful, sunny and in the mid 70's out there and he refused. He wants to sleep on the soft bed or carpeted floor. Talk about a spoiled cougar!! Yes, it is going to be difficult, but it isn't the end. Like I said, he will still be our baby, but not living on our property. To be sure, I will be visiting him a lot. Now, I spoke with the assistant zoning inspector today. I have all the paperwork to begin all the proper filing. I spoke with her and educated her. She really did sit there and listen with enthusiasm. So who knows, maybe things will turn out for the better. I did locate some property as well. Get this, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with 5 acres of land at just under $70,000. Yes, you read that right. However, it is out there, would add about 15 minutes more to my drive time to work. However, our current home is smaller than that, has less land and cost much more. So, this would more than make up for the gas and the use of our cars. But, since we moved here 2 years ago and have a mortgage, I don't know how that would work. Something I need to look into. But, that 5 acres would be nice. The bobcats would have a bigger enclosure and of course, Carmelo would be there too

That new place sounds great. I'm sure your cats would be happy there. Lets just hope that everything works out and the government doesn't try to mess anything else up.

Originally Posted by laureen227

i wouldn't think the bank would have a problem with that - you'd end up owing less money.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the bank would just LOVE for you owe LESS money

Good luck John, hope it all goes well!

Thanks for the update, John. I'll have my fingers and everything else crossed for you, as you do all that blasted hoop-jumping. The meeting with the zoning lady sounds encouraging. And that property sounds great.

I am pulling for you, and hope that this situation works out for the best of all involved.