By 3 p.m., 18 tigers had been loaded onto trucks, including some that had to be sedated with tranquilizer darts. A convoy of four trucks was expected to leave the Tigers Only Preservation Society on Tuesday night, bound for the Wild Animal Orphanage in San Antonio , which authorities said is better equipped to care for them.
The move ends a protracted struggle between the cats’ owner, Joan Byron-Marasek, who has become known as the “Tiger Lady,” and state wildlife officials, who say the animals were being kept in deplorable conditions and needed to be taken away.
“I’m so glad to see this is finally coming to a resolution,” said Marty McHugh, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife. “These animals have been living in such terrible conditions. This is the right thing to do. Getting them out to Texas is the best thing that could happen to them, and to this community.”
The strange saga began in January 1999, when a loose tiger wandering near Byron-Marasek’s property was shot and killed by authorities. State officials never proved the tiger belonged to Byron-Marasek, but criticized conditions at her facility and denied the renewal of her permit to keep the tigers.
Her appeals to overturn that decision were exhausted in November 2001, and a state Superior Court judge authorized a plan to move the animals.
Byron-Marasek was at the compound when the workers arrived, but she left in a taxi around 7 a.m. , crouching down so photographers could not taker her picture. She was not immediately available for comment.
McHugh said Byron-Marasek had obtained a hearing in U.S. District Court in Camden that was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon to try to seek some sort of post-event relief. Her most recent attorney, Darren Gelber, did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.
The tiger compound divided neighbors in this rapidly growing community of single-home subdivisions nestled among the scrub pines about halfway between New York and Philadelphia . Supporters said Byron-Marasek was being targeted by overzealous bureaucrats, while opponents dreamed of the day when there were no longer any tigers in the area.
“I just don’t feel they should be penned up. That’s what Great Adventure is for,” said neighbor Marge Richmond, referring to the nearby theme park that includes a drive-through safari with wild animals. “You want a pet? Get a dog.”
John Poulos carried a hand-made sign outside the compound that read “Let The Tigers Stay.” He blamed recent arrivals for Byron-Marasek’s troubles.
“She’s been here for 20 years,” Poulos said. “These people move from New York and North Jersey and never checked where it was they were moving to.”
Getting the big cats out of their cages proved tricky. In some instances, workers lured them into rolling portable cages with meat. Others had to be gently prodded. Still others refused to go, roaring and lashing out at workers.
“They’re being extremely aggressive,” said Carol Asvestas, director of the Wild Animal Orphanage. “They’re just not very happy right now.”
Five tigers had to be sedated with darts containing a mixture of Valium and ketamine, an animal tranquilizer.
Asvestas said she was appalled at the physical condition of the tigers, who she said were soaked in urine and caked with mud and feces. One tiger had neurological problems that would not allow it to hold its head straight.
Another was severely dehydrated and has sores on its feet.
“I think it’s criminal for the government to give permits to facilities like these,” she said.
Asvestas said her 102-acre facility is already home to 600 wild animals, including 42 other tigers, as well as monkeys, bears and other animals rescued from private ownership. It is registered with and routinely inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture.
The move will cost nearly $300,000. New Jersey will provide $120,000, and the International Animal Welfare Fund, a group lobbying for an end to private ownership of big cats, is contributing another $120,000.
It was not immediately clear who would pay the remaining $60,000. McHugh said the state plans to move in court to recoup its costs from the case from Byron-Marasek.
(AP - Nov 11, 2003)
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