Supreme Court won't review lion cub case

COLUMBUS -- The Ohio Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will not accept for review a Mahoning County case involving a lion cub and a Berlin Center animal sanctuary.
The case centers around ownership of the lion, named Boomerang, kept at Noah's Lost Ark animal sanctuary on Bedell Road since October.
Owners of Noah's have maintained that the animal was abandoned with them and that William Long, who lives in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington, no longer is the owner. They have refused to hand the lion over to Long.
The court's announcement in Long v. Noah's Lost Ark means the animal sanctuary has run out of time in fighting to keeping Boomerang here instead of sending the animal to California.
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Long has said he bought the lion -- which was then an 8-day-old cub -- on behalf of a reporter for the New York Post, who was doing a story on the sale of exotic animals.
Long intended for the lion to be taken to Shambala, an animal sanctuary in California operated by actress Tippi Hedren. But fearing the animal was too young to make the trip to the West Coast, Long took Boomerang instead to Noah's, intending for him to stay there only until he was strong enough to be moved.
Owners of Noah's have refused to hand him over to Long despite Mahoning County court rulings ordering them to do so.
Long's lawyers had asked Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to set a date for Noah's to hand over the lion to Long.
Owners of Noah's could not be reached for comment.