MAHONING COUNTY Lion cub's seller testifies about lawyer's deal offer

A magistrate may decide today if a lion cub will stay in Ohio.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- An exotic-animal breeder who sold a lion cub to a Columbus-area man says he refused an offer from an attorney for free legal services if the breeder would sue the buyer.
Jeff Burton of Wapakoneta said he testified during a deposition Thursday that he declined Atty. Michael O'Shea's offer to provide his legal services if he would sue to regain custody of Boomerang, a 4-month-old lion cub.
"He wanted me to sue Bill Long and say that the sale to Long was fraudulent," Burton said during a telephone interview after the deposition, which was at a hotel in Wapakoneta. "I'm not interested in doing that. I just want this all to go away. & quot;
O'Shea, however, said he believes Burton may have misunderstood him.
"I suggested he get a lawyer if he felt he was defrauded, and I said that if my client would sign a conflict waiver I could represent him," said O'Shea, who represents Ellen and Douglas Whitehouse, owners of Noah's Lost Ark, a Berlin Center animal sanctuary where the cub is staying.
Ownership of the cat is at the heart of a lawsuit Long filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against Noah's Lost Ark .
Possible decision
Magistrate Gene Fehr may decide today whether to grant Long's motion for summary judgment to get the cub. If Fehr doesn't grant the motion, the case is set for trial later this month.
"What disturbs me about this offer is that the attorneys for the other side have taken the position that my client did something unethical by cooperating with a reporter for a story, but they have taken action in this case that seems to be sneaky," said Atty. Jeff Holland, who represents Long.
Long, of Upper Arlington, a Columbus suburb, says he is the owner of Boomerang, a male lion cub born Oct. 4. He wants the cub to be released from Noah's Lost Ark so it can be relocated to actress Tippi Hedren's animal sanctuary in California.
The cub has been at Noah's Lost Ark since Oct. 12.
When Boomerang was purchased, Long, an animal activist, was with a New York Post reporter, who was working on a story on how easy it is to buy exotic animals.
O'Shea has stated Long was "just the fake purchaser of the cub," because the reporter helped put together money to purchase the animal. The money was given to Long and Long used his identification to buy the cub from Burton.
Holland, however, says there is no law that states Long would not own the cub just because others contributed to its purchase.
Sold cub's sister
Burton further testified during the deposition that two months after he sold Boomerang, he sold the cub's sister. Burton thought he was selling the cub to another breeder, but he soon found out the man who came to purchase the female cat was buying it for Larry Wallach, a board member of Noah's Lost Ark.
A few days after the female cub was bought, Wallach had a press conference saying the cubs would be raised together. Wallach, however, took the female cub to South Carolina and Florida a week later to visit schools and hospitals. The cub was returned to Noah's Lost Ark two weeks ago.
sinkovich@vindy.com