BERLIN CENTER Man says cub at sanctuary should be returned to him

A veterinarian will inspect the cub and determine if it is fit for travel, a letter states.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BERLIN CENTER -- The man who says he is the owner of a lion cub brought to Noah's Lost Ark by a New York Post reporter says he does not approve of the sanctuary's using the animal for fund raising and wants it to be returned to him.
Bill Long, an animal activist in Columbus, sent and faxed a letter Thursday to Ellen and Doug Whitehouse of Noah's Lost Ark, asking to set up a time for him to collect the cub.
"I plan to bring with me a veterinarian who will inspect the cub and determine whether it is fit for travel," Long stated in the letter. "I have not consented to your keeping the cub. I have not consented, nor do I approve of, using my cub for fund-raising purposes."
Long plans to have the cub, now named Boomerang, transferred to the Shambala Sanctuary in California, his letter states.
"As I have repeatedly stated, Boomerang is not going anywhere," Ellen Whitehouse said. "He will reside at Noah's for the rest of his life."
She also stated that all nonprofit charities must be publicly supported.
"When Mr. Long 'bought' him under false pretenses and attempted to use him and then later discarded him with two uneducated and untrained Post reporters, he showed his true motives," Whitehouse noted.
If Long makes any more attempts to contact her, she said she will notify the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department.
"I will also file for a restraining order," Whitehouse added.
Buying cub
Long said he was with a Post reporter when the animal was bought Saturday.
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 said he only agreed to help the reporter because he was told the cub would be sent to Shambala. He has said it was his understanding that the cub would only stay a short time at Noah's Lost Ark.
Shambala Preserve is an 80-acre habitat northeast of Los Angeles.
The cub was ill when brought to Noah's Lost Ark, 8424 Bedell Road, and Whitehouse paid to have the animal treated by a vet. Long was not with the reporter when the animal was taken to Noah's, Whitehouse has said.
The cub is now doing better, she added.
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 exotic animals and is open to the public on weekends through Oct. 31.
sinkovich@vindy.com