Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

It's about more than just the cougar

Deputies won't file criminal charges against the woman who took a cougar from her husband's wildlife sanctuary. But he might go to civil court to try to get the animal back. Their accounts of their five-year history often differ.

By GINA PACE
Published August 14, 2006

MASARYKTOWN - Every evening at the Wildlife Survival Sanctuary, Buddy the cougar went to the fence that separated him and his female counterpart, Sheene. They would walk, nose to nose, along the gate until they reached the feeding area.

Buddy had been abused by his first owner and had trouble moving, so his daily flings with Sheene were a milestone.

But their time together ended abruptly last month. Sheene was taken from the sanctuary to Orlando in what has become a contentious battle involving the breakup of another relationship.

Jim Moore, who owns the 10-acre sanctuary, and his wife, Lisa Schafer, had worked together for five years. They held other jobs to make enough money for quality animal food and spacious animal habitats with pools.

Then, last month Schafer left.

And she decided to take Sheene with her.

* * *

Moore, 40, began housing animals on the grounds in 2001. It had been his dream. Schafer, 27, began volunteering for him that year, while also working for a small aviation company. She spent two days a week caring for the animals.

By late 2003, she and Moore married, but it was never a traditional union.

"We never moved in together and separated a matter of weeks after our marriage," she said.

Both lived in Spring Hill - Moore on the side of the city that sits in Pasco County; Schafer on the side in Hernando. Still, they kept the sanctuary going, tending to the animals' needs.

More than a year ago, Schafer said, she realized she had to leave the sanctuary. But she felt trapped. The marriage wasn't working, yet she had a special connection with Sheene. She didn't want to leave the cougar or the other animals she had grown so close to.

"I had given over $100,000 (to the sanctuary), had no social life. My life was based upon taking care of those animals," she said. "He said that if I wanted to leave, he'd go out and kill her (Sheene) before he'd let me leave with her."

Moore said he made no such threat.

On July 9, Schafer and at least two others coaxed Sheene out of her enclosure and took her to another facility, the C.A.R.E. Foundation in Orlando. They also tried to take Misty, a Bengal tiger. They shot Misty with what Moore says was a cut-rate tranquilizer and tried to take her, but Pasco County sheriff's deputies and a representative from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived and stopped them.

Meanwhile, Moore said Schafer froze an $80,000 bank account the sanctuary needed to keep running.

Schafer said that Moore has threatened her repeatedly, and a permanent order of protection was granted last month.

Moore recently filed for divorce and says he doesn't believe Schafer feared him.

"I saw her the day she did this," he said. "I joked with her and talked with her on my way out."

* * *

The sanctuary, hidden off a dirt road in northern Pasco, is a collection of clean, shady habitats for a few leopards, tigers, servals, and even an ostrich and potbelly pig. The wire mesh enclosures for the large cats have platforms, toys and dens. Most enclosures have metal pools with attached showers so the animals can cool off during the summers.

Susan Moore, Jim's mother, also works at the sanctuary. She estimates the facility spends $1,500 a month on health supplements and food for the animals - the cats are fed meat fit for human consumption, rather than lower-grade food.

Steve DeLacure, an investigator with the wildlife commission, said the sanctuary exceeds minimum state requirements and that there is no history of injuries, escapes or violations.

"He (Moore) provides proper care for the animals and his heart is in the right place," DeLacure said. "He's done an exemplary job."

Schafer herself told the Times in 2003 that "the animals who find their way here are very lucky."

Schafer said she left three years' worth of operating expenses for the sanctuary to run on.

"I'm not looking to destroy the sanctuary," she said. "I love those animals."

* * *

Buddy misses playing with Sheene. He stays in his den and at times, will eat only when Susan Moore feeds him by hand.

"He's been really depressed since she's gone," she said.

As for Misty, Susan Moore said she is slowly recovering from being tranquilized, but is more skittish than before.

Sheene, on the other hand, is thriving in her new home at the C.A.R.E. Foundation, said founder Christin Burford.

Burford said Sheene, who used to hiss and growl at men, has now warmed up to them.

"She's like a totally different cat," Burford said. "She enjoys the attention and gets lots of it."

Sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said that after an investigation the department decided not to file criminal charges.

DeLacure said that since Sheene was taken to a facility with proper licensing, it's not a criminal matter. But determining ownership of the cougar is a trickier civil issue that involves the couple's marital assets as well as that of the nonprofit.

Moore has filed a civil suit, but is unsure if he will proceed since the sanctuary's operating funds have been unfrozen by Fifth Third Bank.

"You have to decide how much money you can spend without jeopardizing the animals," he said.

In a civil court, Sheene would be considered property, and since she is an older, spayed cougar, her monetary value would be considered nominal.

"It doesn't really become important to anybody unless you are emotionally involved with the animal," Moore said. "And then it's priceless."

[Last modified August 14, 2006, 06:29:12]