68 yr old woman tries to keep her Texas exotic refuge running

When Monique Woodard was 6 years old, she begged her father for a puppy. He gave her a bobcat kitten?instead.

?Somebody had shot its mother,? Woodard said. ?I called him Tom, and I loved him. I trained him like a?dog.?

Now Woodard, 68, keeps eight tigers, two bobcats, a leopard, a one-winged owl and a rhesus monkey at the Exotic Cat Refuge and Wildlife Orphanage, a sanctuary she founded in 1988 near Kirbyville in East?Texas.

But she is the first person to tell you such animals make terrible?pets.

?You cannot take the wild from a tiger,? Woodard said. ?You can put ?em in your living room, you can put ?em in your bathroom, you can put ?em in your backyard, but a tiger is a tiger is a tiger. They are wild animals, and they could kill?you.?

The plight of Mike the kangaroo drew attention to exotic pet ownership in Texas earlier this month, after a homeowner association ordered Spring residents Nick and Jeni Dreis to get rid of the 6-month-old marsupial. The Dreises protested, saying they had acquired Mike as a vocational training animal for their teenage daughter Kayla, who has Down syndrome. The HOA reversed course in response to a media frenzy and granted Mike a?reprieve.

If a pet kangaroo caused such a ruckus, what about a pet?tiger?

Bill supports ban

Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., would prohibit private possession of big cats nationwide, except at zoos and other ?highly qualified??facilities.

The Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act also would outlaw the breeding of big cats and require anyone who now owns one to register with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Violators could face fines of $20,000 and five years in?jail.

Eighteen states ban exotic animal ownership. Texas allows it, subject to some permitting requirements, which vary from county to?county.

Local laws governing the ownership of exotic animals are lax. Records show there are 32 ?dangerous? animals living in Harris County: five tigers, two hyenas, two cougars, a panther, a serval, an African lioness, six monkeys, seven lemurs, and seven binturongs, or bear?cats.

Ownership of such wild animals ? even an elephant or a rhinoceros ? is allowed in unincorporated Harris County, as long as you get a permit from the Public Health and Environmental Services agency. The agency issues permits for a list of 20 wild animals Commissioners Court has identified as dangerous. Kangaroos are not on the?list.

Within Houston city limits, it is unlawful for anyone to keep a wild?animal.

In the past year, the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has taken in two tigers and two mountain lions seized in animal cruelty cases, said Patricia Mercer, Houston SPCA?president.

?The reality is there are very few people who would be able to afford to be able to care for these animals and provide the kind of enrichment and nutrition that they need,? Mercer said. ?So for the most part these animals do not have good quality of life ? in most cases they are dying ? and they pose a really big threat to public?health.?

?It?s a way of life?

Exotic pet owners are ?a little bit strange,? admitted Todd Westin, a veterinarian and exotic animal enthusiast from?Beaumont.

?It?s a mentality, and if you do it right, it?s a way of life,? he?said.

Westin bought his first exotic pet at age 9: a tarantula named?Fang.

?My mom was really freaked out about it, but she came to appreciate the beauty of it,? he said. ?And I?ll tell you, as a kid I was really popular for awhile! I would take her out and hold her in my hand and pet her and stuff, and she seemed to like the?interaction.?

Westin now raises kangaroos in a pasture near his home in Beaumont. He sold Mike to the Dreis family. A baby male kangaroo can sell for as much as $2,000, Westin?said.

?I make my livelihood helping animals but I discourage exotic animal ownership,? he said. ?The biggest thing I hear is, ?Oh my god I want a tiger cub so bad!? And I?m like, ?You have no clue what you?re getting?into.?

Westin doesn?t support a ban on such animals, however. ?I don?t think the government has any right to step in and say you can?t own exotic pets, because once they start doing that they?ll get out of control,? he?said.

Big food bill

Woodard said that rescuing big cats that have been abused or neglected is her calling from God, but it?s a daily struggle to meet the demands of caring for her beloved animals. It costs upward of $20,000 a month to feed them all, she said. A big cat can devour 30 pounds of meat a day. And forget vacations. Woodard hasn?t taken one in 25?years.

Federal inspectors visiting her sanctuary in August noted several violations, including an untidy shed used for food storage and lack of training records for employees. Two months later, Woodard let her USDA exhibitor?s license expire, which means she can?t charge anyone admission to see the animals. The IRS also has revoked the sanctuary?s nonprofit status for failing to file tax returns three years in a?row.

Woodard?s daughter, Debora Horner, said her mother let the license and nonprofit status lapse during a bout of ill health, but she plans to reapply?soon.

?I love my cats more than life itself, that?s all I can say,? Woodard?said.

lindsay.wise@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Dangerous-exotic-animals-make-home-in-Texas-3419190.php

Source: http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/68-yr-old-woman-tries-to-keep-her-texas-exotic-refuge-running/

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