Cougar that was kept as illegal pet removed from New York flat
- The owner of the 11-month-old female cougar surrendered the animal on Thursday, said a spokeswoman for the Humane Society of the United States
- The cougar, nicknamed Sasha, spent the weekend at the Bronx Zoo receiving veterinary care and is now headed to a wildlife refuge in Arkansas, officials said
An 80-pound (36kg) cougar was removed from a New York City flat where it was being kept illegally as a pet, animal welfare officials said on Monday.
The owner of the 11-month-old female cougar surrendered the animal on Thursday, Kelly Donithan, director of animal disaster response for the Humane Society of the United States, said in a news release.
The cougar, nicknamed Sasha, spent the weekend at the Bronx Zoo receiving veterinary care and is now headed to the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, officials said.
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The Humane Society coordinated with zoo officials, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York Police Department on the big cat’s removal.
“I’ve never seen a cougar in the wild, but I’ve seen them on leashes, smashed into cages, and crying for their mothers when breeders rip them away,” the Humane Society’s Donithan said. “I’ve also seen the heartbreak of owners, like in this case, after being sold not just a wild animal, but a false dream that they could make a good ‘pet’.”
Donithan said this cougar was relatively lucky because her owners, who live in the Bronx, recognised that a wildcat is not fit to live in a flat and surrendered her.
“The owner’s tears and nervous chirps from the cougar as we drove her away painfully drives home the many victims of this horrendous trade and myth that wild animals belong anywhere but the wild,” Donithan said.
