Other big cat owners come to aid of Yogie and Friends

Vickie Welborn,  

August 29, 2014

Yogie and Friends has a Sept. 3 court date to answer a LDWF citation issued in July. However, a restraining order is in place and a separate civil suit is pending in a Baton Rouge courtroom.

(Photo: Vickie Welborn/The Times )

 

FRIERSON – Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary received some unexpected help this week in making recommended upgrades to the homes and holding areas of the facility's nine large cats.
Three men who own their own exotic cats – and volunteers accompanying them – gave of their time for up to three days for a blitz build of new cinderblock dens, erecting new fencing and performing general cosmetic improvements.

But there's still some work to complete so Executive Director Jenny Senier is putting out the call again for local help. She said the tasks don't require heavy lifting, such as screwing boards to a privacy fence frame, adding pre-cut chain link fencing, caulking the dens and general cleanup of the property.

Yogie and Friends is under the gun to show progress on a list of deficiencies cited by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries during a July inspection. LDWF seized – on paper only – the big cats and cited Senior for having the animals without a permit. A court date is set for Sept. 3 in DeSoto District Court. A separate civil lawsuit has been filed in East Baton Rouge Parish District Court.

The U.S. Zoological Association included Yogie and Friends in its lawsuit against the state. USZA claims requiring the sanctuary to join the non-profit American Zoo and Aquarium Association in order to be exempt from 2006 law banning private ownership of exotic animals is discrimination, said President Doug Terranova, of Kaufman, Texas, who lent his expertise this week to Senior and Tim Mills, Yogie's founder and board member.

Additionally, Yogie and Friends obtained a restraining order against LWDF, good through Sept. 15, prohibiting agents from further enforcement. "This is one of the things we do; go out and help other people like these nice people here," Terranova said. "We see this all of the time, requiring facilities to be a member of AZA. The state of Louisiana has exempted AZA from their law but a USDA license is still required. And they have one."

More than a dozen volunteers from Oklahoma, Texas and South Louisiana descended upon Yogie and Friends this week to help with improvements at the big cat sanctuary. (Photo: Vickie Welborn/The Times )

Joining AZA could cost about $10,000 annually, Senier said, making it cost-prohibitive for the facility operated with donations and volunteer labor."A government cannot make you join a non-profit," said Joe Schreibvogel, the owner and trainer of big cats in Oklahoma. "By saying you are exempt by joining AZA gives them a monopoly."

Yogie & Friends has been unsuccessful in obtaining a permit from LDWF except for the bobcat and servals. The tigers, lions and leopard are licensed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which had considered the facility a Class C exhibitor in good standing since its beginning in 2000.
But since the LDWF citation was issued, USDA has made repeat visits to the site, Senier said. "We take what they say seriously but we were just not able to get the help," Senier said.

Rather than see Yogie and Friends lose its aging big cats to an out-of-state facility, Schreibvogel chose to round up a crew and come to their aid. He's done this before, he said, helping to rebuild a zoo in Missouri in three days.

Big cat owner and trainer Doug Terranova (left), of Texas, and Jenny Senier, Yogie and Friends executive owner, discuss improvements underway in Boudreaux’s pen. (Photo: Vickie Welborn/The Times )

"My first impression," said Schreibvogel of the facility, "is there is cosmetic stuff that needs to be done." But some of the mandates from LDWF "do not make sense." For example, Schreibvogel said LDWF wants doors on the den houses so the cats can be locked in during inclement weather. He said the cats are smart enough to get out of the bad weather on their own. Each pen already has a separate, secure catch area where the cats are moved when their areas need to be cleaned.

A couple of dens that were constructed prior to July were deemed unacceptable by LDWF. Agents want the cats to be able to rest comfortably at any angle, rather than the cozy situation Senier and Mills chose to provide knowing the preference of cats to be in close quarters.  "That's putting human emotion on animals," Terranova said of the state's criticism of the first dens. However, all were enlarged by the volunteers this week to meet LDWF requirements.

Terranova, Schreibvogel and Michael Sandlin, the owner of Tony the Truck Stop Tiger in Grosse Tete who also volunteered this week along with a crew he brought, all have had their run-ins with state government, USDA and animal activities. So they've formed an informal advisory board to give Senier and Mills guidance in the future and resources that can be tapped into when needed.

They've already given veterinary recommendations, feeding tips and suggestions on providing additional ramps and structures inside each cat's pen for activity and exercise. "I wish we had known these guys four years ago. They've been a godsend. A lot of things we just didn't know. But we're committed to getting it done for the cats," Senier said.

To help
For more information on how to help Yogie and Friends or to volunteer your time, call Executive Director Jenny Senier at (318) 286-1145.

Tigger lounges in his secured catch area while work is underway in his pen to build a concrete den. (Photo: Vickie Welborn/The Times )

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