Owner surrenders tigers at sanctuary

WALDO — The man who vowed to never give up his big cats surrendered them without incident Monday morning after a SWAT team from the Marion County Sheriff's Office knocked his door at about 7:30 a.m.

Five Siberian tigers were tranquilized using dart guns and lifted into transport boxes at the Paws & Claws Animal Sanctuary outside Waldo as sanctuary owner Mike Stapleton looked on.

About 30 agents from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Marion County Sheriff's Office, the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Ohio Highway Patrol arrived with a search warrant, prepared to seize the animals. Stapleton agreed to surrender his cats, hopeful that they would be placed in a good environment.

The tigers were transported to a temporary holding facility in Reynoldsburg, according to Department of Agriculture spokesperson Erica Hawkins. The cats will likely be placed in approved sanctuaries out of state, she said. Ninety-six exotic animals, mostly alligators, have been placed in permanent facilities since the temporary facility was completed in March 2013.

"I'm still in shock, but I knew it was going to happen," Stapleton said.

It was the culmination of a three-year battle on the part of Stapleton to keep the cats, two of which he raised from cubs, after the Ohio legislature passed tight restrictions on private ownership of dangerous animals that took effect Jan. 1, 2014, Stapleton said.

"I did everything I could to keep them. I think I told you all that when Senate Bill 310 passed, it was going to make a criminal of me, and a lot of other animal owners. Well, it did. But no one can ever say Mike Stapleton mistreated his animals."

Stapleton purchased his first wild animal, a bear cub, for his 14-year-old daughter Tabitha from an animal auction years ago. In 2005, Stapleton accepted his first tiger, Shurkaha, from a desperate owner who purchased the cat as a cub, and found it had outgrown the family's ability to care for it. He has accepted five other tigers to his 10-acre compound from other owners in similar situations over the years, a legacy of Ohio's lax laws on breeding and selling wild animals. Stapleton believes his sanctuary was a last resort for animal owners who became frightened of their pets; an adult tiger can reach over 600 pounds and live over 25 years in captivity.

"Shurkaha and the rest of them were the best behaved animals you'll ever see. They didn't really have to tranquilize them. They would have walked into those cages willingly. I know they did it for the safety of the agents here, but the cats are no more dangerous than they were before the law was passed," Stapleton said.

Ohio's wild animal law was signed in 2012 in response to the killing of dozens of lions, tigers and bears by law enforcement personnel in Zanesville after animal sanctuary owner Terry Thompson set them free before taking his own life that same year.

Stapleton, along with a number of other exotic animal owners, applied to become accredited wildlife sanctuaries under the new law, but Ohio Department of Agriculture officials notified Stapleton and six other animal owners in April that their applications were incomplete, and had not demonstrated enough progress toward accreditation since the law went into effect in 2014. The state placed the animals under quarantine at that time, and demanded owners prove they have accreditation through the state or other national sanctuary agencies, or be prepared to surrender their animals.

The law required Ohioans who own what the state calls dangerous wild animals — including lions, tigers, and some reptiles and snakes — to apply for a wildlife shelter permit by Jan. 1, 2014. The permit stipulates animal care and feeding; it also sets minimum cage sizes and containment fencing designs. Permit holders must develop escape response plans with area law enforcement and carry liability insurance. Wildlife shelter operators are forbidden from breeding or selling animals and agree not to allow members of the public have contact with the animals.

"I missed my deadlines for state certification long ago," said Stapleton, who had hoped to gain an alternative accreditation from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries based in Washington, D.C. Stapleton said he had to re-establish his nonprofit status, which lapsed in Ohio, before GFAS would consider his operation.

In the end, the state of Ohio ran out of patience and moved on Monday.

The SWAT team was provided to protect the public and the agricultural staff in the event the animals got loose, said Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey.

"We sent the team, and set up a perimeter. Mr. Stapleton was upset, as anyone would be, but cooperative," said Bailey, who said he could not recall any complaints from Stapleton's neighbors about his sanctuary operations. A safety reaction plan had been worked out between the sheriff's office and Stapleton in the past, with Stapleton's agreement that in the event of an escape, the animal would be put down by responding deputies to protect the public.

"We are pleased Mr. Stapleton decided to surrender his animals voluntarily," Hawkins said.

"It's our preference to work with the owners to find appropriate facilities for these animals. We were hoping to reach this outcome earlier."

Hawkins said that 55 permits have been issued to private owners or research facilities to keep what the state refers to as dangerous wild in 2015.

But Tabitha Sisson, Mike's daughter who pleaded for the bear cub all those years ago, thinks the best outcome would have been to allow the animals to live out their lives at her dad's sanctuary.

"They've made it almost impossible for small places like us to make it. I know how much money my dad has spent trying to get into compliance," Tabitha said.

"I was the start of this all because I have a daddy that couldn't say no."

Stapleton still hopes to win damages from the state for all he's been through, even if he never sees his cats again.

"I've never felt the state had the right to take my animals, which I've owned long before the new law went into effect," Stapleton said.

"I've spent enough money on this," said Stapleton, who admitted he's still angry, but somewhat relieved that Monday brought some finality to his struggle. He now only hopes his tigers end up in a good home.

"They just kept coming after me until I'm exhausted. I've thrown my last punch. But no one can say that Mike Stapleton didn't put up a fight."

jsmiller@gannett.com

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