YOUNGSTOWN Animal activist files suit against sanctuary

A hearing date has not been set.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An animal activist who says he is the owner of a lion cub brought to Noah's Lost Ark is asking a judge to force the sanctuary to return the animal.
William Long of Upper Arlington filed the lawsuit this week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
A hearing date has not been set.
Noah's Lost Ark and owners Ellen and Douglas Whitehouse are named as defendants. A call to the sanctuary seeking comment was not returned. Ellen Whitehouse has said the cub she calls Boomerang is not leaving the facility.
Brought to sanctuary
The cub was 8 days old when it was brought to the sanctuary at 8424 Bedell Road, Berlin Center, on Oct. 12 by a New York Post reporter.
The reporter was working on a story about how easy it is to buy exotic animals and asked Long for help.
Long was with the reporter and was the one who signed the papers to buy the 3-pound cub, Long has said.
The suit states that the Whitehouses accepted the cub on a temporary basis, with the understanding that Long intended to retrieve the cub so it could be sent to an exotic animal sanctuary in California.
"Defendants expressed their desire to be involved in providing services to the cub to further the nonprofit corporate purpose of Noah's Lost Ark, Inc.," the suit states.
"Defendants' animal operation received significant publicity and donations as a direct result of their accepting the responsibility of caring for the cub."
The lion cub arrived a week after Ming, a tiger taken from a Manhattan apartment, was brought to the facility.
Noah's Lost Ark is a licensed facility that takes abused and neglected exotic animals. The all-volunteer organization has about 125 animals and is open to the public weekends from May 1 through Oct. 31.
sinkovich@vindy.com