Exotic cat in Cincinnati tests positive for cocaine https://t.co/4SRXU6bT86
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) March 9, 2023
The way we live now... Per NPR:
… Unlike the movie, this story isn’t set in the 1980s — it happened earlier this year. It was only made public recently for legal reasons, explains Ray Anderson with the Cincinnati Animal Care shelter.
“Coming on the heels of the Cocaine Bear movie, we’re not surprised it has gone viral,” he told NPR via email.
The protagonist of this particular tale is a serval named Amiry.
The big cat was kept as a pet and escaped from his owner’s car during a police stop in January, according to Anderson.
That’s when Hamilton County Dog Wardens (a division of Cincinnati Animal Care) got calls about what was thought to be a leopard spotted up in a tree.
Responders were able to retrieve Amiry and bring him back to the shelter, where the medical team called in an expert (whose credentials include working on the “Tiger King” case and the Zanesville tragedy) to identify his species.
The expert suspected Amiry was actually a serval, a long-legged, big-eared wild cat that is native to sub-Saharan Africa and illegal to own in Ohio. To confirm that, the medical team took a DNA sample — and also tested him for narcotics.
Why did the shelter test Amiry for drugs in the first place? The short answer is a capuchin monkey named Neo.
Last year, local animal control seized the monkey from his Cincinnati home after a veterinarian who saw videos of him believed he had ingested Xanax and/or cocaine and was in need of medical care.
Neo tested positive for amphetamines, underwent treatment and is now “safely in an undisclosed location,” according to Anderson. His owner was indicted on animal cruelty charges.
Since then, Anderson says it’s become standard protocol for the shelter to test for narcotics for any animal that is more “exotic” than the usual household pet.
“Of course, we also test for narcotics on any dog or cat displaying behaviors that would lead us down that path,” he added. “Amiry was extremely agitated at the time he was with us, which is understandable given what he had been through that morning, but we were able to sedate and treat before transporting to the [Cincinnati] Zoo.” …
Amiry is doing “very well” there, and Anderson said the zoo is hoping he can become a member of its Cat Ambassador Program, which aims to educate visitors about the importance of wild cat predators and raise money for cheetah conservation efforts…
Amiry’s owner willingly signed Amiry over to animal authorities and has cooperated with their investigation, Anderson said, which is why they are not pursuing charges at the time.
“His owner was cooperative and paid for Amiry’s care until all ownership transfers were finalized, which is when this story went public,” Cincinnati Animal Care noted in a Facebook post on Thursday…
Poor Amiry. Some of the testing was to confirm that Amiry is not a Savannah cat, a modern domestic hybrid which is legal in some states, including Ohio. Servals have occasionally been kept as ‘pets’ since the days of the Pharaohs, but while they’re certainly appealing, I personally wouldn’t consider it a good idea!
Alison Rose
Just looked at my cat and told her she better not start doing blow. She already acts like a crazy thing half the time.
dmsilev
Yes, but do the shelters check whether cats are hooked on the ‘nip?
wonkie
THe Wild Felid Center, about three miles from my house, is a rescue for the kind of cats that do not make good pets. Nearly all of their cats are former pets. That includes a leopard, two tigers, lots of serval cats, bob cats and so on. I’m a volunteer at an adjacent rescue for domestic cats, but I’ve taken the tour of the Wild Felid center several times. It is just appalling how stupid people can be. And sad how many animals suffer because of their stupidity, WHo the hell ever thought a leopard would make a good pet? He’s scarier than the tigers.
Anne Laurie
Yes, but as a ‘lifestyle accessory’, sooo hard to top! These days just anyone can own a tiger — consider that tacky dude from the Netflix series…
WendyBinFL
I never thought the leopard would eat my face…
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
Fun fact: Servals can jump incredibly high, knocking birds in flight out of the air when hunting. Various sites list the height attained as between 9′ – 15′ (!).
Anne Laurie
Yup. Even the Savannah hybrids are extraordinary jumpers — and climbers. I’ve seen a steady trickle of ‘local news’ stories about serval/crosses leaping privacy fences & climbing out of caged enclosures their owners were sure were escape-proof… and we all know how hard it can be to contain even an ‘ordinary’ house cat who doesn’t want to be confined.
Ohio Mom
I am full of hometown pride…not.
Amir Khalid
@wonkie:
I hear there’s a famous Hollywood actress who once tried to make house pets of lions and tigers.
Captain C
A Serval with the personality of an extremely mellow golden retriever might make a nice pet for someone with a good-sized yard. I don’t know if such a thing is possible.
(Bold is preemptive as I know how energetically goofy Goldens can get. I would not want an energetically goofy big cat with pointy bits around the house.)
Ruckus
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
We had a golden retriever that I saw jump about 6ft in the air to take down a bird that finally wised up to her crawling very slowly up behind and took off. Too late, the retriever retrieved.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Amir Khalid: Tippi Hedren?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Amir Khalid: @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Tippi Hedren made a movie about lions called Roar
as of 2020, she still lives on that ranch/big cat preserve at age 90. Her granddaughter Dakota Johnson helps out. It’s a whole thing.
Betsy
That poor creature. So wrong.
Ohio Mom
@Betsy: He had a bad start but he’s in good hands now at the Cincinnati Zoo. I think he’ll be fine from here on out. It’s a very highly regarded zoo.
Ohio Mom
It seems a fair trade not to charge this guy with owning an illegal animal because he gave it up so easily. It must have been an expensive purchase too. Although maybe the novelty had worn off and he was glad to get it off his hands.
But what about the cocaine?
All I can figure is he must be white. As a supporting argument, this took place in Oakley, which is a pretty white neighborhood.
billcinsd
@wonkie: Well, we know who didn’t love Bringing Up Baby
Rugosa
@wonkie:
I can even see why an idiot would give tranqs to a wild animal they’re keeping as an accessory but how much more of an idiot do you have to be to either give such an animal cocaine or leave the coke where the beast can get at it?
Rugosa
@Captain C:
When you consider the damage a 7 lb domestic cat can do with its scimitars, I mean claws, a Serval with a temper would be downright dangerous as a pet. I suppose the Pharoahs kept them well fed.
Paul in KY
@Rugosa: Friend of mine once said: ‘A 40lb cat owns you’.
VOR
About a year ago I read an article which argued that we don’t really know how to build fences at zoos. We don’t know the limits of the strength of gorillas or large bears. We don’t know precisely how high some animals can jump. Enclosures are built to rules of thumb based on what seems to work, often relying on the animals to not fully test them. It was an interesting and a little troubling article.