Wednesday, 21 February 2007

• Currently Reading Night of the Panther By E. C. Ayres see related

  State agency recommends stricter rules for owners of captive wildlife

  This article is from our local paper.  I liked the part about the man and his cats and how he takes care of them, so I wanted to keep this before it goes offline:

  By JESSICA COSDEN
  Cape Coral Daily Breeze

  A cheetah could be living next door to your child’s elementary school. Hundreds of poisonous snakes may live at the house across the street. Many people aren’t aware that with a permit, anybody anywhere can house dangerous captive wildlife.

  The Florida Animal Control Association wants to see stricter rules and regulations in licensing captive wildlife owners and recently sent the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission — the exclusive licensing body for captive wildlife — a detailed list of recommendations.

  “... There has been little focus on the real risk that dangerous captive wildlife can pose to nearby residents,” the FACA said in a press release. “Coupled with increases in population and urban growth, the detrimental effects on both environment and public safety are obvious.”

  Recommendations included prohibition of dangerous captive wildlife from residential neighborhoods or near schools, nursing homes and similar facilities; signage on homes with dangerous captive wildlife; and a public posting of all dangerous captive wildlife in Florida.

  Fish & Wildlife commissioners considered these proposed regulations Wednesday.

  According to FWC records, five Cape Coral residents are licensed to keep captive wildlife as personal pets. While the permit listing doesn’t specify breed, it does indicate that two are licensed for large cats such as lynx, cheetahs and ocelots, and three are allowed to have animals from the family cercopithecidae, which includes proboscis monkeys, mangebys, guereza monkeys, celebes black apes and others.

  Longtime Cape Coral residents Mario and Lenore Infanti are one of the two Cape homes licensed to house large cats. The couple owns several felines: two common domestic breeds, a Birman named Mocha and a Maine Coon named Jake. But the others are certainly not your average housecats.

  Spock is a Chausie, a rare hybrid of African jungle cat and Egyptian mau, which lives indoors. Two cougars and two Siberian lynx live in Infanti’s backyard.

  Spock looks like a housecat at first glance, but his strut is more like that of the cougars, Catrina and her daughter Sasha, who live in a large enclosed space in the backyard, as do Lynx brothers Boris and Nikita, who were rescued from a fur farm 11 years ago at just 15 weeks old.

  There’s not a chance Catrina, Sasha, Boris or Nikita will escape, Infanti said. “No danger at all — unless they’re beamed out.”

  His backyard has a triple-size, triple-strength enclosure that is 15 feet high and reinforced with seven gauge chain link. While the requirement by law is nine gauge, Infanti opted for even more protection with the thicker and stronger seven gauge.

  Whenever an animal escapes, Infanti said, it’s a result of human error. “An animal is going to do what it wants to do.”

  Infanti said he supports tough permitting requirements and fully agrees with efforts to ensure pet owners are responsible and well-trained.

  While the FACA pushes for tougher laws regarding captive wildlife near schools, Infanti actually has had students from several area schools come visit his cats as an educational field trip. Students and other visitors stand behind a protective fence near the house, allowing the cats to roam the patio freely, able to sniff around and stick a large, declawed paw through the bars but posing no threat.

  The cougars will “test” visitors who meet them without the safety of a fence for separation, Infanti said, by sniffing and biting lightly, but they won’t break the skin.

  “There are a couple of friends who have known them since they were kittens, and they have no problem hanging out,” Infanti said. Still, he prefers to keep most guests behind the fence.

  While neighbors were curious at first, Infanti said now there are no problems with his unique pets. “We’ve got great neighbors.”

  Ron and Liz Caldwell live right behind the Infantis, just feet away from Sasha and Catrina’s sleeping place.

  “I feel safe,” said Mrs. Caldwell. “He’s got concrete going down halfway to China with a double fence. And they’re great cats.”

  The Caldwells frequently have their grandchildren over and said they never fear for their safety. The kids have, in fact, been to the Infantis’ to meet Sasha and Catrina.

  “It’s like going to the zoo,” Caldwell said. “They love them.”

  Infanti loves them, too, as he bottle-raised both cougars. But his love for cats is not limited to Sasha and Catrina. A musician with local band Catman Doodz, he was given the name ‘Catman’ by jazz great Chuck Mangione when on tour together.

  “I always wanted big cats when I was a kid. They’re just cool. Cool cats,” he said with a laugh. “They’re independent, pretty much take care of themselves, very intelligent. And the cougars are very protective of me.”

  Unusual pets call for unusual shopping habits: the four large cats eat about 10 pounds of meat a day.

  “We buy it wherever there’s a sale,” he said. He and his wife will purchase 100 to 200 pounds at a time.

  There’s also an added benefit to housing a potentially dangerous animal in the backyard: house protection. “What burglar do you think is going to break into a house with animals like this?” Caldwell asked.
  

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