INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — The judge’s order details the big cat's enclosures which contain only single egress doors for human use and “provide big cats an opportunity to escape.”
Now, the judge has ordered no staff members, volunteers, or members of the public are to enter the big cat enclosures unless the animals are locked in an enclosure separate from the one being entered. It also details there should be no physical contact between any big cats and people.
One week after a team of inspectors were given access to Wildlife in Need, the state asked that no one, except licensed veterinarians, enter the big cat enclosures.
They asked to prevent anyone, including staff volunteers and owner Tim Stark from making physical contact with the lions, tigers and hybrid lion-tigers and that the big cat enclosures cannot be opened unless the animals are locked in a separate enclosure physically separating the cats.
The state argued that after the inspection on March 6, inspectors believe that practices and animal enclosures at WIN, “present threats to WIN assets and serious risks of death or serious injury for WIN employees, other staff, volunteers and the general public.”
Stark stated that his safety protocol is to use a handgun to shoot the big cats if they attack, according to the court document. “When you’re dealing with this shit, I go in cages with them. When you’re in there, it’s not a matter of damn ‘if,’ it’s a matter of when. I’m willing to take that...I would much rather die doing what I love to do than doing what I hate to do,” according to an affidavit signed by one of the inspectors.
The state argued that when the cages keeping the cats are opened there is an opportunity for them to escape and called the enclosures ‘inadequately secured." The doors are described as metal wire mesh fencing attached to the wooden framework in an affidavit.
“Outside a few but not all big cat enclosures is a metal pipe fence that is approximately five feet tall. The metal pipe fencing that is outside of a few enclosures has no cover that would prevent a big cat from being able to jump over it,” the affidavit explains.
The court documents say those ‘safety deficiencies’ are a liability and put the corporation at risk to loss assets and granting the temporary restraining order would preserve the assets in dispute.
“The state anticipates that additional serious deficiencies in WIN’S animal treatment, housing, and handling practices will be identified by its inspection team once that team has completed its review of information and observations obtained during the inspection,” the motion reads.
There was no hearing granted for the motion, the judge filed his decision Friday in the Marion County Supreme Court.
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