SOURCE: The News & Observer, North Carolina

Tuesday, December 14, 2004
By Mandy Locke

Eviction threatens big cats

Exhibitors of two ti-ligers fight their landlords in Johnston County court

SELMA -- A pair of ti-ligers and their handlers are being banished from the wilds of a discount shoppers' paradise off Interstate 95 in Johnston County.

The 400-pound beasts -- one-quarter lion, three-quarters tiger -- have worn out their welcome in the parking lot beside Mahogany Man, an antique furniture store off exit 97, next door to JR's Warehouse.

Mahogany Man's owners, Randy and Cindy Daniels, tried for months to kick this carnival-like attraction off their property. Ti-liger owners Roger Figg and Robert Card, who have lived like nomads in empty parking lots off interstate exits for years, are fighting.

The battle is playing out in a Johnston County courtroom this week. "No one wants one of these in their neighborhood anymore," said Roger Figg, who has a U.S. Department of Agriculture license to exhibit one of the cats, Miss Fyre.

Their gig is a throwback to the wild animal exhibitions dotting America's roadways 30 to 40 years ago. Twenty dollars gets a visitor close enough to Lady Kali or Miss Fyre to feel their cat breath. A photo of the tourist beside the exotic animal is part of the package, as is a disk of pictures Card snaps during the visit. Simply watching the ti-liger sisters snuggle is free.

"You used to be able to ride though any road in the North Carolina mountains and have your picture taken with a bear," said Dr. Fred Kirkland, director of state animal-welfare programs at the Department of Agriculture. "Some guy had captured a bear, and moms and dads would get a picture of their kid standing beside it."

Figg and Card's attraction has been shuffling along the I-95 corridor in North Carolina for at least five years. In 2002, Cumberland County officials ran them out. Firefighters refused to respond to calls at their camp because of the ti-ligers; leaders of a nearby orphanage were worried about a cat escaping, said code enforcer Ken Sykes.

Cumberland County -- as well as Stokes, Davidson, Surry and Wilkes counties -- now bans ownership of wild animals such as tigers. Some states are passing similar legislation, Figg said. He could not operate in New York, Kansas or Kentucky.

After Cumberland, Figg and Card headed north to exit 71 in Dunn. That's when Cindy Daniels met the pair and invited them to set up at Mahogany Man. "I felt sorry for the cats," Daniels said. "There was no greenery for the animals."

The Danielses ran ads in the local paper to announce the ti-ligers' arrival. They posted a billboard along I-95 .

Within a few months, the relationship soured. Over the past two years, Johnston County deputies have been called to settle disputes more times than they care to admit.

Cindy Daniels said Figg and Card went too far, moving into the storage closet at Mahogany Man and building permanent cages. A china hutch now blocks their entrance to the main showroom, and the Danielses cut off the tenants' bathroom privileges.

Figg and Card argued they were promised a place to live for five years and have boosted the antique store's traffic. If they must move on, they expect compensation.

District Court Judge Marcia Stewart will weigh in this week. If she sides with the landlords, two ti-ligers and their owners will be hunting for a new home on Christmas Eve.

At that point, they'd settle for a stable.

Staff writer Mandy Locke can be reached at 829-8927 or _mlocke@newsobserver.com._ (mailto:mlocke@newsobserver.com) News researcher Lamara Williams-Hackett contributed to this report.