MIDDLETOWN--A woman appeared in court on Thursday to fight for her "baby."
Noah, an African serval, was seized by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection because Connecticut law forbids private citizens from possessing "felidae, including, but not limited to, the lion, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, ocelot, jaguarundi cat, puma, lynx and bobcat." A serval is one of those animals.
Beth Rhines, who owns Noah, says he's at a local zoo while the legal process continues, but she hopes to transfer him to a facility in Alabama, and is considering a move to Florida, where it is legal to own servals.
"Noah is basically my child," Rhimes said. "We love Noah. We take very good care of him. We miss him. It's completely unfair that they have him locked up and he didn't do anything wrong. He's not a dangerous animal. And we just want him to come home."
The law being violated states that any animal in a specific cat group that is "illegally possessed may be ordered seized and may be relocated or disposed of...(and) the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall issue a bill to the owner or person in illegal possession of such potentially dangerous animal for all costs of seizure, care, maintenance, relocation or disposal of such animal."
The person can also be fined up to $2,000, and be charged with a misdemeanor.
