WARREN USDA eyes cub's purchase

Officials from the USDA couldn't be reached to comment.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
Officials from the United States Department of Agriculture wanted to check out paperwork related to the purchase of a lion cub that was recently reunited with her brother at a Berlin Center sanctuary.
Sam Mazzola, who, along with Larry Wallach, spokesman for Noah's Lost Ark of Berlin Center, owns and operates World Animal Studios in Elyria, said three USDA officials came to his store Saturday to look at paperwork related to the purchase of the 2-month-old female cub.
"I showed them the stuff and basically threw them out of here," Mazzola said Monday. He added that he was upset the press found out about the USDA's visit to his store.
"We went to buy the animal to save it," Mazzola said.
USDA officials could not be reached to comment.
The owners of Noah's Lost Ark and Wallach are hoping that reuniting the two cubs will help persuade a judge to leave the animals in Mahoning County.
Testimony of actress
They're banking on the testimony of actress Tippi Hedren to help their position. Hedren appeared Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court as a witness for William Long of Upper Arlington, near Columbus.
Hedren, also an animal activist, testified that the ideal situation for Boomerang, the male cub, would be to grow up with his own sibling if possible, no matter where that would be.
Long says he is the owner of Boomerang, who was born Oct. 4. He wants the cub to be released from Noah's Lost Ark sanctuary in Berlin Township so it can be relocated to Shambala, a California sanctuary Hedren operates. Long bought the cub with a reporter from the New York Post who was working on a story about how easy it is to buy exotic animals.
But owners of Noah's Lost Ark, where the cub has been since Oct. 12, have refused to let him go.
Ownership of the cat is at the heart of a lawsuit Long filed in common pleas court against Noah's Lost Ark and its owners, Douglas and Ellen Whitehouse. The case continues today.
Mazzola noted that the female cub was purchased from the same breeder who sold Boomerang to Long.
"There was no way that this guy was going to sell to us, so we sent in another guy to get it for us," Mazzola said, adding that the breeder didn't know that the cub would be given to him and Wallach.
"We have the canceled check here; it's our cub," Mazzola said.
sinkovich@vindy.com