LION OWNERSHIP Appeals court to decide if Noah's Lost Ark will keep cub

The issue is whether the cub was abandoned.
LISBON -- The 7th District Court of Appeals is weighing a request to block an order that would force an animal sanctuary to return a lion cub to the Columbus area man who says it's his.
The court convened Wednesday in Columbiana County as part of an effort to periodically meet throughout its jurisdiction and heard arguments on the case.
The judges agreed to consider the matter and said they will issue a decision later.
William Long of Upper Arlington wants Noah's Lost Ark of Berlin Center, Mahoning County, to return Boomerang to him so he can give the 6-month-old, nearly 100-pound animal to a California sanctuary.
But Noah's is arguing that the cub was abandoned to its possession last fall when it became sick. Long no longer owns the creature, Noah's insists.
Long, an animal-rights activist, had bought Boomerang as part of a news story on exotic-animal sales that was being researched by New York Post reporter Al Guart. Guart left the cub at Noah's when it became sick.
Long, who continued to claim ownership, has maintained that the stay at Noah's was only intended to have been temporary until the cub was well enough to be sent to California.
Visiting Judge Charles J. Bannon of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court recently ordered that the male lion be returned to Long.
What was argued
The case was brought before the appellate court when Noah's asked it to block Judge Bannon's order and announced it intended to appeal his decision.
During Wednesday's hearing, Atty. Michael O'Shea of Cleveland, representing Noah's, stated again that the animal is Noah's because it was abandoned.
But Judge Mary DeGenaro noted Long's intent to give the cub to the California sanctuary.
"How does that show abandonment?" she asked.
O'Shea also maintained that there are facts surrounding the case that should have been heard in common pleas court but were not.
"What we're asking for is a day in court," O'Shea said.
Atty. J. Jeffrey Holland of Sharon Center, Ohio, representing Long, said that the cub was properly ordered turned over by common pleas court as a matter of law and that there is nothing to be argued in court.
Holland maintained the cub was given to Noah's for temporary care. The animal is better now and growing, making it vital that the cub be transported to California before it's too large and too difficult to move, Holland insisted.
He also accused Noah's of using "possession of this cub as a fund-raising tool."
Judge Cheryl Waite suggested that perhaps the appellate court could hear the case in an expedited manner, a proposal that O'Shea said he supports.
Holland objected, however, saying the cub keeps growing, and the several months' wait for even an expedited case would be too long.