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Neighbors Sue Man Over His Pet Wildcats

Posted on: Friday, 27 February 2004, 06:00 CST

Neighbors of a man who keeps a cougar and three African wild cats as pets have filed a lawsuit demanding they be removed from his home.

In their lawsuit filed Monday, Gary Dutcher's neighbors allege that his three African servals - each weighing about 50 pounds - and a 7-year-old cougar violate neighborhood association rules and are "inherently extremely dangerous."

Dutcher, meanwhile, faces criminal charges for a traffic accident in which another pet cougar escaped.

In January, Dutcher crashed his car while taking home his 150-pound cougar Samson from a veterinary clinic. The cat escaped from the car, and police shot and killed it when it lunged at an emergency worker.

Dutcher was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident, operating a vehicle while his license was suspended and maintaining a public nuisance.

Members of the Still Water Place Community Association are seeking the permanent removal of the wild animals from Dutcher's property. Their lawsuit alleges that he has broken the neighborhood's restrictive covenants.

The lawsuit notes that the January escape of Dutcher's cougar shows the need for the immediate removal of the animals "before another of the animals escapes from its enclosure to roam the community or, worse, attacks humans and other animals."

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