Today I learned five WAO lions went to Tiger Haven in Tennessee. Amy (lion featured on "Growing Up Lions -- Animal Planet), SchieBe (lion); Mighty Moe (lion); Herminone (lioness) and Mica (lioness) traveled to Kingston, TN this week.
Here is their website -- so far, no news on their latest arrivals: http://www.tigerhaven.org/
Tiger Haven is now home to 280+ Great Cats. All but 13 are tigers, lions, leopards, and cougars. The other thirteen are servals, caracals, and bobcats. We receive NO funding from the State or Government. Our only source of funding is from you, the public. We feed over 2500 pound of meat and chicken to the cats each day, none of which is donated. It takes a lot of hard work and money to take care of this many cats, but if they had not been taken by Tiger Haven, most all of them would have been “put down”. We are the last chance for these cats. Believe me, if there was anywhere for the Great Cats to live out their lives safe and comfortably, I would not have 280 of them to feed and take care of. Even though we love each one of them, it is extremely hard to feed, water, clean and take care of the medical needs of this many cats.
I found this petition on their website: http://www.tigerhaven.org/petition.htm
I SUPPORT TIGER HAVEN
ROANE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS:
In almost 20 years, reports from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency have always rated Tiger Haven excellent. We have been inspected an average of 5 times per year, and have always passed inspection.
So why are you now trying to limit and reduce Tiger Haven's abilities to rescue innocent animals?
Tiger Haven only exists because of the cruelty and inhumanity of human beings.
Without Tiger Haven, where would you suggest these innocent animals go when the fools who buy tigers as pets abandon them? Or when the roadside zoo closes?
TIGER HAVEN RESCUES INNOCENT GREAT CATS FROM THE HORRORS OF WHAT HUMANS HAVE DONE TO THEM.
The eyes of caring Americans are watching you. We say, "Tiger Haven has done nothing to deserve your scrutiny."
LEAVE TIGER HAVEN ALONE!
And my research included this article:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jul/24/neighbors-growling-over-large-population-at/
KINGSTON - The population at a big cat sanctuary in Roane County has exploded, and that has neighbors worried.Plus there was this comment posted by one of the neighbors:
There are now 266 tigers, lions, cougars and other large felines at Tiger Haven, set on nearly 50 acres in the rolling hills east of Kingston.
Nearby residents want the sanctuary's footprint and its population reduced. They say a windstorm could topple trees along the sanctuary's fenced boundary, bursting open cages and freeing the beasts.
"It's a disaster fixing to happen," Albert Tate says.
Tate and neighbors Toby and Sally Rhynehart say Tiger Haven employees have ignored their pleas for an early-warning siren system should any animal break free.
"It would be nice to hear a siren go off rather than have a tiger jump on you," Tate said.
Tate, the Rhyneharts and others have been repeatedly asking Roane County commissioners for help. Their pleas were renewed night during a legislative committee meeting, when they asked for the county to enact a private act that would limit how many big cats could stay in such sanctuaries.
Commissioners are sympathetic, Chairman Troy Beets said. "Basically, County Commission's hands are tied," he said.
In 1997 the county sought to keep the sanctuary from being rezoned and expanded but the state's Court of Appeals in 2002 sided with Tiger Haven.
"They (Tiger Haven personnel) think because they've been grandfathered in, they can do anything they want to," Commissioner Ray Cantrell said.
The sanctuary now owns more than 48 acres off Harvey Road. Cages holding big cats are on 19 acres, and a large swath of sanctuary land has recently been clear-cut. Neighbors worry about another expansion there.
The Rhyneharts, meanwhile, are taking legal action against the sanctuary, contending that fences erected by Tiger Haven are on their land. Toby Rhynehart said he's filed a complaint against the sanctuary for criminal trespassing.
The Rhyneharts contend some of the fence hasn't been well maintained. Tiger Haven personnel, in response to their concerns, have been erecting large sheets of metal along the fence line this week.
"If they were good neighbors, they would move their fence," says Toby Rhynehart, who straps on a .45-caliber handgun when he walks to the fringes of his land to check on Tiger Haven. "We want a buffer zone," Tate added.
Sally Rhynehart says the sanctuary has ruined the value of their 140-acre farm, prevented them from riding horses near the sanctuary and is a nuisance.
The roaring of the big beasts as well as the stench of their urine wafts onto their property, she said. "During the winter when the leaves are off the trees, it's deafening," Toby Rhynehart said.
Tiger Haven personnel keep a low profile and speak only through their attorney, Doug Drinnon of Dandridge.
The sanctuary is for "abused, abandoned, neglected and unwanted large feline wildlife," Drinnon stated in an e-mail.
While Drinnon indicated the sanctuary is a nonprofit corporation, its land is still on the county tax rolls. Three years of back taxes are owed on five Tiger Haven tracts, according to courthouse records.
Drinnon says the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has inspected the sanctuary 56 times since 1999. There have been no escapes from Tiger Haven, he said, and only one injury when a worker received a minor scratch from one of the big cats.
State officials this spring inspected the property after neighbors' worries about water pollution but found no threat to area water quality, Drinnon said.
TWRA has one of the nation's most stringent regulations concerning such sanctuaries, according to Drinnon's e-mail. "Tiger Haven is one of the most inspected and most regulated facilities in the country in this regard," he stated.
The TWRA official in charge of inspecting such sanctuaries agrees.
"We don't have any problems at all with them complying with any of our requests," said Walter Cook, TWRA's captive wildlife coordinator.
"Over the years, they have performed at a level I never thought a facility could perform at," he said.
The biggest expansion of the sanctuary occurred in 2005, Cook said. Now, he said, there are 172 tigers, 45 lions, 25 cougars, 20 leopards, a jaguar and three ligers housed there, Cook said. Ligers are a cross between a lion and a tiger, he said.
The sanctuary has a working relationship with the University of Tennessee's Veterinary School, which Cook said is one of the best in the nation.
MaryLouWells writes:
Most of you are commenting with no idea what you are talking about. I live near Tiger Haven. First of all you have no idea who we, the neighbors are obviously. I am a long-time supporter of Tiger Haven. I fought FOR Tiger Haven in 1997. I personally toured the facility back then. My family has lived here for more than 30 years and I have lived here since 1992. I am not a new resident, I was here first before Tiger Haven as were the Rhyneharts and the Tates. All of us supported Tiger Haven's right to exist peaceably at that time. However, now we ARE concerned because we believe CONDITIONS HAVE CHANGED at the facility from what I felt was safe in '97 to what I feel is NOT safe in 2009. Enclosures have been added without the same safety features they used to have, they are cluttered together along the backside of the property with too many cats for a handful of people to safely supervise on too small a tract of land to keep them contained properly. They have cleared land now behind the Tate property on an incredibly inappropriate steep ridge face that has direct downward drainage onto Tate. It's already eroding! There's also a problem in size and scale for safety reasons. To illustrate: My property is across the street from Rhynehart. My road frontage is 1/4 mile from my driveway down to the other end where the Rhynehart property ends, there are several neighbors between us and where the Tate property begins behind which Tiger Haven is clearing land. I'd call it at least 3/4 of a mile. That's only ONE side of the Tiger Haven property line. With that distance and scale of area/size it would be impossible for the handful of workers and owners at Tiger Haven to supervise that many cats. My family is concerned about safety. I don't mind the noise but Rhynehart's livestock IS affected negatively by the number of screaming predators next door. What we want is a guarantee a killer cat will not get out and come over here and kill a horse or one of my children. 10 years ago I said, 60 cats and a safe facility - I'm not worried. Now however with approaching 300 on the same property crowded into less safe enclosures we neighbors think conditions have deteriorated and TWRA isn't being totally honest with us or the public while Tiger Haven is ignoring our concerns. I'm all for conserving and saving these cats - I just don't want them over here where I am having to pull my rifle out in a panic to shoot because I have a horse or child down screaming with the jaws of an insane killer-cougar wrapped around them. Please do NOT assume we neighbors are idiots or hate animals or conservation - that is not the case here. Do not jump to conclusions about us. We are animal lovers too and I absolutely adore the beauty and spirit of the big cats. I don't mind cats being over there - just not so MANY and not in unsafe or dirty or unsupervised enclosures!!!!
I also found a recent article on the zoning issue:
County looking into disaster plan for potential big-cat sanctuary escapesI am at a loss for words right now.
By Damon Lawrence
Monday, September 20, 2010 at 5:30 am (Updated: September 20, 6:20 am)
Imagine if a major disaster hit East Roane County and caused some of the animals at Tiger Haven to get loose.
Roane County officials worry that tigers and other big cats housed at Tiger Haven could get loose if a disaster struck the area. The county is in the process of putting together a plan to deal with such a scenario.
Buy this photo View MapCounty officials are putting together a plan on how to deal with such a scenario.
“We’re going to identify what potential could happen and how to secure the area and make the public safe,” County Executive Ron Woody said.
Tiger Haven is a big-cat sanctuary on Harvey Road. According to its website, the facility houses more than 280 of the animals. Most are tigers, lions, leopards and cougars.
Tiger Haven maintains there’s never been an instance where a big cat escaped from its enclosure at the sanctuary. That’s of little comfort to some of the residents who live in the rural area.
“Every time I drive down the road, I don’t know if I’m going to run into a cat or something,” said Alan Gordon, who lives nearby. “You don’t ever know. Some mornings when I leave the house, I don’t know if anything is waiting for me out there.”
Gordon said he worries the big cats will get out if a major disaster were to hit the area.
“When we have a bad storm, how many trees fall down?” he said. “They’ve got those trees over there and if they fall down on top of the cages, those cats are out.”
The number of animals housed at Tiger Haven has grown over the years. Officials wonder when it will stop.
“Will we be looking at 600 cats five years from now?” Commissioner Bobby Collier asked.
“They limit the number of kids one person can have in daycare,” Commissioner Ron Berry said. “Surely to goodness, there’s something we can do with the number of animals.”
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is responsible for regulating Tiger Haven. County officials said they get the same answer every time they try to do something.
“We have to go through TWRA, and I don’t think anyone is pleased with how TWRA is performing over there,” County Attorney Tom McFarland said. “But they seem to have total power.”
Roane County has been in the national news before, and Collier said he sees the spotlight shining on the county again if a bunch of big cats get loose.
“It will make the TVA spill seem like lightning,” he said. “We’ll be all over the national news.”
There was a fire at Tiger Haven in October 2000. TWRA officers from surrounding counties showed up with rifles and formed a perimeter around the sanctuary.
None of the animals escaped, according to reports at the time.
Without going into detail, Tiger Haven attorney S. Douglas Drinnon said the sanctuary does have an emergency plan in case a major disaster hit the area that caused animals to get loose.
Tiger Haven complies with all TWRA regulations and state statutes,” Drinnon said in an e-mail.
“Further, Tiger Haven keeps and maintains all necessary and required equipment in this re-gard.”
Roane County tried to shut Tiger Haven down over a zoning issue. A long legal fight between the sides finally concluded in 2002 when a state appeals court ruled in favor of Tiger Haven.
Officials often cite the outcome of that case as to why the county is unable to do anything about the sanctuary.
“We get in this conversation a lot about what we can’t do,” McFarland said. “But if we start focusing on what we can do, we can come up with a contingency plan that could potentially save lives and save animals’ lives.”
Woody said he was prompted to put together an emergency plan for Tiger Haven by a suggestion from McFarland.
“The day he suggested something to me, I got with our emergency management folks and said, ‘Hey, it’s been suggested that we need to look at an emergency disaster plan out at Tiger Haven,’ so we started on it immediately,” Woody said.
The plan is still a work in progress, he said.
“They’ll study all the potential disasters that could take place out there and how they’re going to alleviate any potential problem,” Woody said.
Since the TWRA is the agency responsible for regulating Tiger Haven, Woody said he’s not sure if the county would have to stand down and allow TWRA to take the lead should something happen.
“I’m not sure how the jurisdiction would come into play,” he said.
“I think that’s something we would see from our plan. It will probably address what would take place there.”
Added on January 20, 2011:
The Knoxnews.com reported on January 19, 2011 that Roane county commissioners want to visit the facility for a look themselves because of complaints from residents who live near the sanctuary, which is not open to the general public.
Commissioners apparently wants to contact local and state agencies and request written explanations of their respective oversight roles when it comes to the sanctuary. They will also inquire about issues of public safety and regulations governing noise and odor. They also plan to ask the state legislature to adopt a law that big cats be tagged to track their whereabouts should they escape.
Regarding the latter resolution, Tiger Haven's attorney, S. Douglas Drinnon, said the facility is not required to do so by law. "We are not aware of any state that requires animals to be implanted with a chip or other such device described," Drinnon wrote in an e-mail to the News Sentinel.
I have a really bad feeling about all of this.
I have a really bad feeling about all of this.
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