Phoenix Woman Had Lion, Bobcats at Home
December 17, 2004
PHOENIX – A Phoenix woman who kept a mountain lion and other wild animals in her home has been charged with child abuse and endangerment.
Michelle Carole Gierke, 32, admitted keeping a mountain lion, two bobcats and an African serval at her west Phoenix home.
She didn’t have a state permit for the animals, and she sometimes left her small children alone with the animals.
Gierke acknowledged to officers that if the animals had gotten out, they would have been a danger to her neighbors. Her home is just a block from a school.