This sad story went on for many months.  All of the news stories about it are posted below:

2008 August:  It has been reported that David Piccirillo, who abandoned 9 tigers in 2005, is now performing as David Martin Magic and Archangel Productions Hypnotica and was recently featured on America’s Got Talent using big cats.

Big cats, big spat

Fergus Falls , Minnesota Friday, March 25, 2005

By Brandon Stahl

Edward and Janice Law have lived in their rural Underwood farm home for nearly two years, retiring there after he finished his career as a truck driver in southern California . It’s a home that, with a scenic view out of their front window of Phelps Mill, was missing only one thing when they bought it — the key.

“The guy who sold it to us didn’t have one,” Edward said. “He lived there for 50 years and never had to lock his door. That’s how quiet it is around here.”

Still, Law said he keeps a .357 magnum near the back door of their home, “for tigers,” because they live only a few hundred feet away from a neighbor that keeps nine of them.

“It’s always in the back of my mind,” he said. If one of them were to escape, “what’s going to stop it?”

The Laws aren’t the only ones concerned with those neighbors, Arcangel Wildlife, as the USDA and the Otter Tail County Public Health Department are currently investigating the facility while state and national wildlife agencies are voicing complaints over what they feel is abuse of the animals.

It’s a difficult situation for the current caretaker of the facility, Wendy Meers, who openly acknowledges that the tigers aren’t in the “best possible situation.” But she’s also been left in a position of having to care for the tigers — as well as a lion (which is kept in the home’s basement in a small cage), a llama, two miniature horses, a goat, sheep, and several dogs and puppies — while unemployed, depending largely on donations and volunteers to care for and feed the animals.

The previous caretaker and her ex-fiance, David Piccirillo, left for a magician job in Florida, taking with him only a tiger cub and a cougar cub, leaving Meers behind with the animals.

Still, though Piccirillo still owns the tigers and is the only person at Arcangel Wildlife USDA licensed to keep them, Meers said she loves the animals and wants to improve the facilities.

“I never planned for this or anything like that,” she said. “[Arcangel Wildlife] just came to me, and now I’m trying to save it.”

Facilities and care

Before Meers and Piccirillo began their relationship last July after the two met at a concert, she said she had never been around tigers, and certainly didn’t know how to care for them.

A few weeks later, Piccirillo, who only had one tiger at the time, a cub as part of his magic act, moved into Meers’ rural Underwood home.

“He pushed his way into my life,” she said.

Soon after, he began collecting more tigers — either through donation or purchase, Meers said — and essentially put up what appears to be makeshift cages for them. While the cages are have been ruled USDA compliant in the past, some inspectors and local law enforcement have long felt they were too small for full-sized tigers.

Sheriff’s deputy Keith Van Dyke, for example, visited the property last year and found three tigers living in a 12-square-foot cage, a situation that hasn’t changed.

“I suppose some government standards might say this is adequate,” he said, “but to the average person, we might think it was cruel.”

Those concerns were echoed in January after the sheriff’s department, accompanied by members of the Wahpeton Chahinkapa Zoo and a veterinarian for the State Board of Health, told Piccirillo that the cages were too small, and lack of indoor housing for the tigers living outside was inadequate.

“Tarps and straw bales,” Kathy Diekman, the director of the Chahinkapa Zoo, wrote in a report to the sheriff’s office, “are not protection.”

The letter cited 13 deficiencies, including loose nuts and bolts and plastic cable holding together some of the tigers’ corn crib cages. The inspectors also had problems with the tigers’ diet, which at the time only consisted of dead turkeys.

“[The] diet must consist of a variety including red meat and supplements or a prepared zoo feline diet with necessary vitamins and minerals already added,” Diekman wrote.

The USDA meanwhile has also been investigating the facility since last fall, but because it’s still ongoing, will not specifically say why.

“An investigation occurs after an alleged violation of the Animal Welfare Act,” said Darby Holladay, a USDA spokesperson.

Tiger bites

The facility is also being investigated by the Otter Tail County Public Health Department following a March 6 incident where a 16-year-old Dent girl was bitten by a tiger. The girl, Stephanie Truesdell, said she was petting one of the tigers through a cage when the cat “gently grabbed my finger with its teeth.”

Truesdell said she then tried to pull away, but the tiger grabbed ahold of her wrist with its claw.

“Then I yelled and he let go,” she said. “The cat was just playing. He didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not his fault.”

Truesdell was taken that day to treat the bite and a large cut to her wrist to Lake Region Hospital . But, worried that the tiger would be put down, she said she told doctors there that the injury was from falling on glass.

The injury led to an infection that has since required three surgeries to correct.

Truesdell, who babysits for Meers’ three children, has also had to undergo four shots — with one more to go — for post-exposure rabies treatment. Otherwise, according to Public Health Director Diane Thorson, the animal would have to have been put down for testing.

Thorson said her department began investigating the facility after learning of the bite to determine if the tigers are a threat to the public, and also to see if Meers is complying with state laws regarding owning exotic animals.

There have been two previous bite reports, Thorson said, but neither rose to the level of causing substantial bodily harm, which is why Truesdell’s bite was made public.

Thorson, who visited the facility on Thursday as part of the investigation, said a public hearing may have to be held on the injury following the investigation.

“We have to look at what’s the public safety risk for the animal for the future,” she said.

‘It’s been done wrong, and I want to do it right’

Visited Thursday afternoon, Meers was playful with the cats as they were in their cages, petting them, rubbing her face up against theirs, illustrating that they’re comfortable with Meers as their caretaker.

Though they’re tame, she said, as the tigers jumped at their cages at dogs only inches away.

“It doesn’t matter how tame they are, you always have to watch your back,” Meers said.

She said she has been taking care of the tigers without Piccirillo since he moved in early February, while also trying to raise the money to provide better living conditions for the cats.

“It’s been done wrong,” she said, “and I want to do it right.”

She agrees that most of the changes recommended by the Chahinkapa Zoo officials need to be implemented. Among them, improved cleaning, a better diet (one of the tiger cubs was approximately half the size for its age, they wrote), larger cages, and enrichment — an enclosed area for the tigers that doesn’t confine them to the small cages.

But providing that will be difficult, Meers said, until she’s able to find people who will invest money in the facility. For now, Meers, who is not licensed by the USDA but said she has started the application process, said she often feeds the tigers with donated dead turkeys or dead cows, or sometimes roadkill such as deer.

To raise money, she said she wants to sell a few of the tigers, and will also soon offering people an opportunity to get their pictures taken with tiger cubs. Though she doesn’t have any now, a pregnant tiger at Arcangel Wildlife is due to give birth “any day now,” she said.

That angers Tammy Quist, the executive director of the Wildcat Sanctuary in Cedar, Minn.

“It’s exploitative to the animal,” said Quist, who has been investigating Arcangel Wildlife for abuse of their animals. “It makes these animals look cute and cuddly like pets.”

But the cubs, she said, can bite — which puts them in danger of being euthanized.

More importantly, though she said she hasn’t visited the facility, she calls reports of the tigers’ living conditions “horrific.”

“The state and USDA need to intervene now and close the facilities down,” she said.

Regulations unclear

It’s unclear who’s responsible for making sure that Meers and other exotic pet owners in the county comply with the law.

Though a bill passed last year and enacted on Jan. 1 called for enforcement of dangerous and exotic animals to be handled by a local control authority, County Sheriff Brian Schlueter called the law vague.

“They just throw it out and have you register with the local control authority, and that’s going to fix it?” he said. “The [Legislature] didn’t put any teeth into it.”

As a result, Schlueter said he’s not sure who locally should be appointed to handle the exotic animals as a control authority.

“Right now, I’m trying to figure it out,” he said.

He said he’ll discuss the issue soon with the county board, but he’s not certain his department should be responsible.

“We don’t have the expertise for it,” he said.

He pointed to the USDA — but they’re a licensing agency, said Quist, not an enforcement agency, which she argues doesn’t have the resources to force exotic animal owners to comply with the law.

Meers believes she’s the right person to take care of the animals, and feels that, given time and money, she will be able to provide them with better care, believing that it’s her mission to save the big cats.

“It’s a big job, absolutely,” she said. “But we don’t do it because we think it’s cool to have tigers. We do it because they’re rare and endangered.”

By Kelly Wolfe

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, March 20, 2005

THE ACREAGE – Like most urgent news, it was delivered well after dark, just as Mark McCarthy finally had drifted off to sleep.

There were two baby big cats at a Motel 6 in the touristy part of Orlando, said the disembodied voice of a lieutenant with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. And McCarthy needed to come get them now.

“He asked if I could hurry up and get there because he didn’t want to take them home,” McCarthy said, laughing.

“I told him it would take me a little while to get myself together and he said, ‘Great, I’ll see you in two hours.’ ”

Today, the 35-pound tiger and 20-pound panther are making a temporary home with 75 other exotic animals at the McCarthy Wildlife Sanctuary in The Acreage. The 15-year-old sanctuary cares for native and exotic animals of all types, many of which have been picked up by wildlife officers.

Joy Hill, a spokeswoman with Florida Fish & Wildlife, said the agency received a tip Tuesday that a man was transporting the cubs, which are just months old, from Minnesota to Florida. Investigators found the animals in crates at the Motel 6 on American Way in Orlando , near International Drive.

David Piccirillo, 30, was charged with possessing wildlife without the proper permit. Messages left for Piccirillo were not returned late Saturday. A desk clerk at the Motel 6 said she wasn’t there when the cubs were discovered and said the motel’s manager was not available for comment.

McCarthy said Piccirillo is a traveling magician who was in Orlando “trying to get a gig.” He said he intends to keep the cats on the 6-acre sanctuary for as long as necessary.

“They are really cute,” he said.

Underwood woman must get rid of 9 tigers and lion after three people were bitten by cats at her animal farm called Arcangel Wildlife.

Mears has 10 days to find homes for the cats or the county will confiscate them.

The Associated Press – Saturday, May 28, 2005

UNDERWOOD, Minn.

Authorities have ordered a rural Underwood woman to get rid of nine tigers and a lion after three people were bitten by cats linked to her animal farm.

Wendy Mears was served Friday with a public health nuisance abatement order, said Otter Tail County Public Health Director Diane Thorson. Mears has 10 days to find homes for the cats or the county will confiscate them.

Thorson said animals from the Arcangel Wildlife farm have bitten three people since early 2004, two adult handlers last year and a teenage girl earlier this year.

In March, the teen was petting a male tiger through the bars of a cage when she was bitten on the finger and scratched by a swipe of the tiger’s paw. The girl had a dozen stitches.

“We’ve had three members of the public affected by this situation. The potential is becoming greater that more will be,” Thorson said.

In the past, Mears has said she was having difficulty finding homes for the cats and hopes to eventually set up the farm as an educational zoological park.

Mears began the farm about 18 months ago.

Information from: The Forum, http://www.in-forum.com

Acrhangel Lion killed after escaping from cage near Underwood

Associated Press

Posted on Sat, Jun. 11, 2005

UNDERWOOD, Minn. – A full-grown lion had to be killed Saturday after it escaped from its cage near the town of Underwood in western Minnesota , authorities said.

The Otter Tail County sheriff’s office received a call about 9:30 a.m. of exotic animals on the loose.

The lion, which belonged to the Archangel Wildlife Farm, was spotted a short time later in a neighbor’s yard, then left the yard and began wandering west.

Attempts to contact the owner of the lion were unsuccessful, as were efforts to find a veterinarian with a tranquilizer gun, authorities said.

The sheriff’s office said authorities then decided the lion had to be put down because of the threat to public safety.

Underwood is about 10 miles east of Fergus Falls.

Information from: KBRF-AM

June 11, 2005 Underwood, MN: Acrhangel Lion killed after escaping from cage in Otter Tail County . Attempts to contact the owner Mrs. Mears, were unsuccessful. On May 28th she was given 10 days to find homes for the 9 tigers and the lions in the basement her boyfriend David Piccirillo had left behind when he took tiger cubs to Florida for photo ops.

MN Tigers head to 3 sanctuaries

Big cats hit the road

By Dave Forster, The Forum

Published Saturday, June 25, 2005

PILLAGER, Minn. – Gary Tank had to drive 1,200 miles Friday, but he couldn’t leave until he coaxed seven wild passengers to come along for the ride.

Tank, owner of a deer and antelope farm near here, hosted the tigers authorities seized June 14 from a wildlife farm near Underwood. On Friday they were headed for their final stop – one of three sanctuaries in Tennessee , Indiana and Mississippi .

“We’re ready, I think,” Tank said, standing outside one of 10 cages specially built for large cats.

Tammy Quist, executive director of the Wildcat Sanctuary in Cedar, crouched at the edge of a small, wheeled cage that had been pushed up against and strapped onto the tiger’s pen. First up was one of the smallest cats, a 200-pounder.

“Come here, gorgeous,” Quist called. “Good girl.”

Photo gallery: Tigers off to sanctuaries

Five seconds later, the tiger was on a bed of straw, locked up in a cage and ready to ship.

Officials in Otter Tail County seized the cats from the Arcangel Wildlife farm after three people were bitten or clawed on the property and a nuisance order was issued. They faced euthanasia if no suitable homes were found by Thursday.

The first two cats out of Tank’s pens were headed to Columbus , Miss. , courtesy of two of Quist’s volunteers. One was Sonja Lien, a financial analyst from Fridley , who has taken three other long drives to relocate wild cats.

Lien said she planned to stop only for gas on the 22-hour drive. The cats, each in its own cage, had buckets for water and wouldn’t need food.

“We want to keep moving and get them there as fast as possible,” she said. “For the most part they travel pretty well.”

Once there, the tigers will get full physicals, spend 30 days under quarantine and be spayed. One of them will even get a CAT scan because it’s showing signs of a neurological disorder, Quist said.

They’ll also get to take a dip every now and then.

“They’re going to have a tiger pool,” Quist said. “They love to swim.”

Tank took the seven other tigers to Tennessee . From there, two will be taken to the Indiana sanctuary.

All three sanctuaries will have to build extra space for the tigers. Eventually they’ll have their own free-roaming habitat, Quist said.

At their old home with Arcangel, the tigers lived in deplorable conditions, said Tank and Keith Streff, an investigator with the Animal Humane Society of Golden Valley, Minn. Tank, who also moved the tigers from that site to his farm, said he saw 16 inches of manure on the floor of their pens.

“I think their idea of cleaning was throwing straw on the ground,” Tank said.

The owner of the tigers, David Piccirillo, said the cages might have gotten a little dirty, but his animals were healthy and received good care.

“My animals were babied,” Piccirillo said, speaking by phone from Connecticut . “We always made sure the cages were clean.”

Piccirillo, who ran Arcangel with Wendy Mears, said he tried to reclaim his tigers before the 10-day deadline but was denied a hearing.

Streff said Piccirillo called 20 minutes before the deadline and didn’t put up the money he was required by law to stop the transfer.

Regardless, Piccirillo said he’s happy the animals will be cared for and not destroyed. He said he invested $40,000 in the animals, which he said were used in his magic routine.

Otter Tail County hasn’t totaled its costs in seizing the tigers, but the early estimate is about $10,000, said Diane Thorson, the county’s public health director.

Thorson was thrilled to hear the tigers were finally on the tail end of their journey Friday. The mauling of a 10-year-old boy Wednesday in Morrison County , Minn. , reaffirmed her belief that what the county did was right, she said.

For Tank, who runs a deer scent business, it was the first time he’s temporarily placed and moved tigers, but it likely won’t be the last. He entered into a contract with Streff and the Humane Society after a new Minnesota law was enacted that more closely regulates big cats and other exotic animals.

So Friday’s move was the test run for Tank’s new cages, which cost well over $20,000 to build, Streff said. For the most part it worked fine, except for one 350-pound troublemaker who didn’t want to leave.

When Tank and his aide pulled in a moving wall to guide the tiger into its new cage, the big cat leaped more than 6 feet, squeezing its long body over and onto the other side of the moving wall.

“This is the worst one,” Tank said.

Streff waited off to the side, chewing a tassel of grass. Nearby a shotgun leaned against the shed, just in case.

“It’s not your typical domestic animal,” he said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538

Photo caption: With one female tiger in the trailer, work begins on getting the second cat aboard. Photos by Darren Gibbins / The

David Piccirillo

To the Wright County Fair authorities:

Re: http://www.wrightcountyfair.com/daily.html

I am astounded that you are still advertising David Piccirillo as an attraction at your fair in light of all of the big cats he abandoned to die last month.  In case you haven’t read the paper you may want to rethink being perceived as promoting this sort of blatant disregard for animal life:

Tigers still without safe haven

By Dave Olson, The Forum

Published Friday, June 17, 2005

Groups from Minnesota to Washington scrambled Thursday to secure homes for nine tigers as a Thursday deadline and their possible demise drew one day closer.

“I’m on a mission, but I’m running out of time to save those babies,” said Wendy Mears, a rural Underwood, Minn. , woman who was caring for the big cats until Tuesday, when Otter Tail County , Minn. , officials seized the animals from the Arcangel Wildlife farm.

The cats were taken to an undisclosed location about 80 miles from Fergus Falls , Minn. , according to officials, who said the animals may be destroyed if new homes are not found by Thursday.

The county confiscated the animals under a nuisance abatement order in conjunction with an investigation into whether state laws regulating the care and keeping of animals were violated, County Attorney Dave Hauser said Thursday.

Hauser said he has not received investigative reports and would not discuss details about the case.

Tigers may be destroyed

The Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley , Minn. , coordinated the seizure for the county and is working to find alternative homes.

Keith Streff, head of investigations for the Humane Society, said several offers of help are being forwarded to the Wildcat Sanctuary in Cedar, Minn. , which is helping the Humane Society find suitable placement.

Tammy Quist , the sanctuary’s executive director, said no solutions had been found Thursday, though fundraising is ongoing to help offset costs if the animals go to new homes.

The county has said it may incur $15,000 in expenses, which would be the responsibility of prospective cat owners.

An anonymous donor on Wednesday promised $15,000 if matching funds can be found, though the offer is only good if placement is with an accredited sanctuary, Quist said.

Mears, who has until Thursday to ask for a court hearing to challenge the seizure, wouldn’t discuss efforts by Quist and Streff to find homes for the cats.

Mears said she is in touch with a family in Washington that is willing to take up to five of the tigers. But she said she doesn’t have the money to get them there.

Mike Jones, who runs an exotic animal farm near Sedro Woolley , Wash. , said he has a USDA license to exhibit animals and is working to become an accredited sanctuary.

Jones said he was initially contacted by David Piccirillo, who started Arcangel Wildlife with Mears about two years ago and who left Minnesota in February.

Jones said he is working with Mears to get some of the confiscated cats to his farm, which now houses two tigers, one Siberian and one Bengal .

Diane Thorson, Public Health director for Otter Tail County , said she is relying on the Humane Society and the Wildcat Sanctuary to screen potential tiger owners.

She said the county cannot transfer ownership of the tigers until after Thursday and then only if there has been no court challenge.

Thorson said her office has received more than a dozen phone messages regarding the tigers, some from taxidermists who want the carcasses if the tigers are destroyed.

Thorson said she hasn’t returned the calls, but knows what her answer will be, “Absolutely no.”

The Humane Society has two ways of disposing of animal remains: cremation or the landfill, Thorson said.

Other phone calls to Thorson’s office have been from taxpayers wondering how the county will pay for costs involved in seizing the tigers.

Thorson said she budgeted $10,000 for nuisance abatement, expecting to spend the money on meth lab cleanup.

“I had no dream I was reserving it for this type of situation,” she said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Olson at (701) 241-5555

Dave Olson, wants to do a story next week (since the deadline for the 9 remaining tigers is coming next week), and he reportedly would like to do more of a positive story for the private owner and show both points of view.  He knows there are responsible exotic owners and negative situations only make it harder for them.  If any private owners would like to voice their viewpoints or contact him for an interview his e-mail is: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ‘; document.write( ‘‘ ); document.write( addy_text70553 ); document.write( ‘</a>’ ); //–> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 701 241-5555

Please let him know that there is no reason to breed an exotic animal for life in a cage.

For the cats,

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

Tigers still without safe haven

Tigers still without safe haven

By Dave Olson, The Forum

Published Friday, June 17, 2005

Groups from Minnesota to Washington scrambled Thursday to secure homes for nine tigers as a Thursday deadline and their possible demise drew one day closer.

“I’m on a mission, but I’m running out of time to save those babies,” said Wendy Mears, a rural Underwood, Minn. , woman who was caring for the big cats until Tuesday, when Otter Tail County , Minn. , officials seized the animals from the Arcangel Wildlife farm.

The cats were taken to an undisclosed location about 80 miles from Fergus Falls , Minn. , according to officials, who said the animals may be destroyed if new homes are not found by Thursday.

The county confiscated the animals under a nuisance abatement order in conjunction with an investigation into whether state laws regulating the care and keeping of animals were violated, County Attorney Dave Hauser said Thursday.

Hauser said he has not received investigative reports and would not discuss details about the case.

Tiger troubles

RELATED CONTENT

Tigers may be destroyed

The Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley , Minn. , coordinated the seizure for the county and is working to find alternative homes.

Keith Streff, head of investigations for the Humane Society, said several offers of help are being forwarded to the Wildcat Sanctuary in Cedar, Minn. , which is helping the Humane Society find suitable placement.

Tammy Quist , the sanctuary’s executive director, said no solutions had been found Thursday, though fundraising is ongoing to help offset costs if the animals go to new homes.

The county has said it may incur $15,000 in expenses, which would be the responsibility of prospective cat owners.

An anonymous donor on Wednesday promised $15,000 if matching funds can be found, though the offer is only good if placement is with an accredited sanctuary, Quist said.

Mears, who has until Thursday to ask for a court hearing to challenge the seizure, wouldn’t discuss efforts by Quist and Streff to find homes for the cats.

Mears said she is in touch with a family in Washington that is willing to take up to five of the tigers. But she said she doesn’t have the money to get them there.

Mike Jones, who runs an exotic animal farm near Sedro Woolley , Wash. , said he has a USDA license to exhibit animals and is working to become an accredited sanctuary.

Jones said he was initially contacted by David Piccirillo, who started Arcangel Wildlife with Mears about two years ago and who left Minnesota in February.

Jones said he is working with Mears to get some of the confiscated cats to his farm, which now houses two tigers, one Siberian and one Bengal .

Diane Thorson, Public Health director for Otter Tail County , said she is relying on the Humane Society and the Wildcat Sanctuary to screen potential tiger owners.

She said the county cannot transfer ownership of the tigers until after Thursday and then only if there has been no court challenge.

Thorson said her office has received more than a dozen phone messages regarding the tigers, some from taxidermists who want the carcasses if the tigers are destroyed.

Thorson said she hasn’t returned the calls, but knows what her answer will be, “Absolutely no.”

The Humane Society has two ways of disposing of animal remains: cremation or the landfill, Thorson said.

Other phone calls to Thorson’s office have been from taxpayers wondering how the county will pay for costs involved in seizing the tigers.

Thorson said she budgeted $10,000 for nuisance abatement, expecting to spend the money on meth lab cleanup.

“I had no dream I was reserving it for this type of situation,” she said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Olson at (701) 241-5555

9 tigers and no where to go

Nine tigers removed from western Minnesota wildlife farm

The Associated Press – Tuesday, June 14, 2005

UNDERWOOD, Minn.

Authorities removed nine tigers from an unlicensed wildlife farm near Underwood in western Minnesota on Tuesday, following the escape of a lion over the weekend.

Otter Tail County authorities decided to remove the big cats from Wendy Mears’ Arcangel Wildlife Farm after the lion escaped from it Saturday, said Diane Thorson, the county’s public health director. A sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the lion after attempts to find Mears or a veterinarian with a tranquilizer gun were unsuccessful.

Thorson’s department then declared the facility a public health hazard.

The Animal Humane Society of Golden Valley helped remove the tigers, Thorson said, while veterinarians from the Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton, N.D., and the Minnesota State Board of Animal Health monitored their health and safety.

The animals will be quarantined for 10 days at a secure facility, Thorson said. If nobody can provide a new home for them, they could then be destroyed.

Mears sat on the front steps of her house as the animals were taken away, said Keith Streff, director of investigations for the Animal Humane Society of Golden Valley.

“She didn’t protest,” Streff said. “She knew she was at the end of her rope and this action was for the betterment of the cats.”

Getting the 400-pound tigers caged was a challenge, Streff said. Authorities didn’t know the tigers’ exact weights to calculate how much tranquilizer to use They also had to move quickly because alert tigers might instinctively attack sedated cats as the weak links in the group, Streff said.

But no problems developed, and the animals were taken in several trips to a site about 80 miles away.

Mears owned the property but magician David Piccirillo apparently owned the animals, authorities said. Although Piccirillo has been in contact with law enforcement about the tigers, he hasn’t been seen in Minnesota for months. Authorities know he was in Orlando , Fla. , in March because he was arrested for having a tiger and a cougar cub in his motel room.

Tammy Quist , who operates The Wildcat Sanctuary in southern Isanti County , said it’s uncertain whether the big cats can be saved.

“We are running out of options, but we have spread the word around the United States ,” said Quist, whose sanctuary found homes several weeks ago for seven tigers in a similar predicament.

Mears will not be able to reclaim the animals because she is not licensed. Minnesota ‘s exotic animal law says exotic animals, such as lions and tigers, can be kept only by people and facilities that were licensed before the law took effect, Thorson said.

Otter Tail County was going to give Mears until next Monday to move the tigers to the Pathfinder Spirit Ranch in Racine , Minn. But that plan fell apart after the county learned that Pathfinder did not meet a variety of local, state and federal laws.

Mears had been ordered to remove the animals because of three earlier incidents in which the big cats bit or clawed people. Medical expenses in each case topped $3,000.

Underwood is about 10 miles east of Fergus Falls .

Zoo officials decried the situation as an example of the problems that too often arise from private ownership of exotic animals.

“It’s heart-wrenching. I really would like to help if we could. But we currently do not have facilities that would house large cats,” said Paula Grimestad, executive director of the Red River Zoo in Fargo , N.D.

Kathy Diekman, director of the Chahinkapa Zoo, said individuals underestimate the resources required to properly care for large cats.

“They take a lot of room and they take a lot of food,” she said.

MN Tiger Creates Tension

TIGER CREATES TENSION

Minnesota ‘s Otter Tail County has had more than its share of troubles with exotic animals – and officials are still keeping a wary eye on one big cat.

BY JIM RAGSDALE

Pioneer Press Aug. 14, 2005

PELICAN RAPIDS, Minn. – The last of the troubled big cats of Otter Tail County locked its eyes on the man who wants her out of town.

“She’s a beautiful animal – an absolutely beautiful animal,” was all Wayne Johnson, chairman of the township that is home to 332 homo sapiens and one super-sized Bengal tiger, could say as he stared back in awe.

The tiger, named Lilly, glared at Johnson from a corn-crib-like enclosure obscured by wild weeds and roofed with weathered plywood. No signs warned the visitors, who were standing on neighboring property, about 20 feet from the animal and a short walk from a busy county road.

A low rumble, like the purr of an idling outboard, came from somewhere within the tiger’s wild essence. Her ears flicked, her tail danced, but her eyes saw only Johnson. Lilly’s teeth showed as he moved. The secondary fence had worn-down openings and Johnson held a 9 mm pistol at his side.

Welcome to Otter Tail County .

Lilly is a privately owned tiger whose native range is in the forests and swamplands of Nepal and India . She was raised in a land of lush cornfields and quiet lake homes, a symbol of the exotic-animal anxiety that has spread across Minnesota .

As the state suffered through a spate of maulings by such big cats – including three incidents in four months earlier this year – Otter Tail County became ground zero for big-cat hysteria.

As many as 14 tigers and one lion, along with camels, lemurs, a Burmese python and an Asian leopard, were caged at various times on two private menageries within a 30-minute drive of each other. Three people were bitten or clawed. A lion ran loose and had to be shot. Tigers were found dead, half-eaten and frozen in the snow of Lilly’s cage. Criminal charges were brought against both owners.

And neighbors who prized their rural isolation got used to living with stress.

“I packed a gun all day long,” said Edward Law, who lives near the second menagerie in the Underwood area and who once considered shooting the animals himself.

All of the animals were supposed to have been removed. Lilly’s continued presence – nearly nine months after its owner’s guilty plea – came as a shock to township officials and prosecutors.

Said a disgusted Johnson: “If it was an exotic plant, the (Department of Natural Resources) would be all over it . But I haven’t seen milfoil go and climb a fence and attack a child yet.”

OWNING EXOTICS

In Otter Tail County , as in other rural parts of the state and the nation, ownership of “exotic animals” outside the walls of zoos has achieved a kind of cult following. A state law that took effect Jan. 1 is expected to limit future private ownership.

Lilly’s owner, Roy Cordy, a 44-year-old physician, accumulated a collection worthy of Noah at his property along County Road 9 north of Pelican Rapids, about 200 miles west of the Twin Cities.

Neither he nor his lawyer could be reached for comment. He told police during a search of his property last year that he had been collecting animals since the early 1990s and intended to raise them for sale to other collectors.

About 30 miles to the west, on a scenic hilltop near the Otter Tail River, a local resident, Wendy Mears, 40, collected nine Siberian tigers and several other animals. She told police who seized her animals that her boyfriend, David Piccirillo, who used big cats in local magic shows, owned the tigers and left her with them when he left the state.

Both menageries existed before Minnesota ‘s new law, and seem to have fallen through the regulatory cracks. “I’ve lost all respect for public safety because they allowed this to happen,” says Law, who lives near the Phelps Mill operation. “Where’s the common sense?”

COMING APART

A.

cting on a neighbor’s neglect complaint in February 2004, authorities raided Cordy’s property. They found some animals that appeared to be healthy and well cared for. Others were not.

The tigers were in the latter category.

In a series of circular cages connected by “guillotine gates” that can be lowered or raised, a sheriff’s deputy found a dead tiger partially covered with snow. He found a live tiger – Lilly – sitting near a tiger head and other body parts. “It was obvious that this live tiger had eaten the tiger that was in pieces,” he said.

Cordy confirmed this. “Dr. Cordy stated that Lilly has a bad disposition and is a very mean tiger,” the deputy, Marv Robinson, wrote. He said he found more tiger body parts in Cordy’s vehicle.

The final tally: four tigers dead, and one – Lilly – alive.

Cordy was originally charged with six misdemeanor animal mistreatment counts. In November 2004, he pleaded guilty to one count and agreed not to possess exotic animals in the state and to “make all reasonable efforts” to transfer ownership of his current animals.

The public records show no reports of attacks on humans at the Cordy farm. But at the Mears’ property, the story was different.

Three injuries were reported – bites sustained by workers in March and July of 2004, and an injury to a child who was scratched and bitten while visiting this spring. Diane Thorson, the county’s public health director, said the last injury convinced her to declare the property a public nuisance.

But in June, before the animals could be seized, a neighbor reported finding a lion, a goat and other animals in her yard, not far from a bar and restaurant. Officers, unable to find a tranquilizing gun, shot and killed the lion.

“We can’t really have a wild lion roaming the countryside,” said Otter Tail County Attorney David Hauser.

Nine Siberian tigers from the Mears property were eventually dispersed to sanctuaries around the country. Piccirillo is believed to have taken a tiger cub and cougar cub with him to Florida , where he was arrested in a motel for possessing animals without the proper permits.

Mears was charged with 12 counts, including mistreatment of animals and failure to register them under Minnesota ‘s new exotic animal law. Exotic animal expert Pete Bergerson of Plymouth , who is advising Mears, said she feels Piccirillo left her with the animals, the problems and the liability. Piccirillo, reached by telephone in Connecticut , said he transferred ownership to Mears, and the fate of the animals was her responsibility.

THE LAST TIGER

Back at the Cordy farm last week, Wayne Johnson, the township chairman, led a reporter and photographer across the main road, through an adjacent property and to a back corner of Cordy’s perimeter fence.

There was no sign of Lilly in her circular enclosure, but the man on a mission to get her permanently out of tiny Scrambler Township hardly seemed pleased.

An Otter Tail County judge has given Cordy a month or two to move Lilly to a new home. In the meantime, she was supposed to remain caged.

Riotous weeds, the carcasses of what appeared to be store-bought chickens, and three doghouse-like cinderblock enclosures were visible. But no tiger.

“It makes me more nervous not seeing it, than seeing it,” Johnson said.

Concerned the animal may have escaped, Johnson dialed the sheriff’s department. He said he was initially told that the tiger had been removed. Later, the officers said they spoke to Cordy, who said Lilly was still in her cage.

Johnson shot out a piercing whistle, and Lilly finally emerged from one of the enclosures, big-cat motor running, drawing a visual bead on all three visitors in succession.

In a county where images of otters decorate the county courthouse, Lilly is a majestic outsider. Johnson, eyeing the weathered sheathing over her enclosure, hopes the boards hold until she is moved to a new home.

“See how that roof is caved in,” Johnson said. “What is it going to take for her to get through that?”

Jim Ragsdale can be contacted at jragsdale@pioneerpress.comor 651-228-5529.

NEW MINNESOTA EXOTIC ANIMALS LAW

Went into effect Jan. 1.

Restricts ownership of such animals as big cats – lions, tigers, cougars and leopards – as well as bears and gorillas.

Animals owned prior to Jan. 1, 2005, may still be kept if they were registered with local authorities by March 1. Owners must also comply with certain regulatory standards. Failure to register is a misdemeanor.

The law does not pertain to accredited zoos, wildlife sanctuaries, research and medical institutions and certain DNR-licensed game farms. Some federally licensed animal farms may replace exotic animals.

For more information, see the state Board of Animal Health Web site at www.bah.state.mn.us/animals/rules/exotic_animals.htm .