Dan Vitilio shares his birds, goats, lambs and pigs with the school and church groups that visit his Kingsville ranch. Along the way he added Puddy to the menagerie and was told he needed a permit from the government.
He applied and Baltimore County turned him down. He went to court and lost. And now lawmakers are considering a bill that would ensure that Puddy - a 48-pound Siberian lynx - has to find a new home.
"We've taken every safety precaution," says Vitilio, 47. He's talking about the double-walled cage and the moat that separate the wild cat from the kids. He says that Puddy has been declawed and neutered, and that the animal is monitored by a video surveillance camera.
But county officials say the 3-year-old animal poses a safety risk.
"The legislation would resolve a potentially dangerous situation with this wild animal in a residential community," says Ellen Kobler, a county spokeswoman.
The bill is the latest shot in a bureaucratic duel that has reached the state's second highest court.
Denied his permit, Vitilio asserted last month that his 15-acre Eagles Nest ranch is a zoo - and they aren't required to have such permits.
So the county countered with a bill, to be voted on Monday, to require all nonresearch organizations - including zoos - to obtain permits to have wild animals.
Accompanied by several of his birds and his lawyer, Vitilio held a news conference on the county court plaza yesterday to denounce the measure.
Vitilio says he understands the need to regulate wild animals. "We don't want the zoologically ignorant to have a [lynx] in his apartment," he said.
But, he says, Puddy doesn't pose a threat at Eagle's Nest. Vitilio even snuggles with the cat, he says.
Experts agree with the county's characterization of a lynx.
"A lynx is most definitely a dangerous wild animal," says Steve Feldman, spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, adding that the wild cats are particularly risky near small children and pets.
The association has no qualms with the size of wildlife preserves or privately owned zoos such as Vitilio's. "The size has little to do with it," Feldman says. "It's quality of care and the commitment to science-based education."
Eagle's Nest is not among the more than 200 facilities accredited by the association, nor has it applied for accreditation, according to Feldman.
