Local facility takes lion from S. Ohio

The owner decided to get rid of it after his daughter was injured by another cat.
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AP) -- A man whose pet lioness attacked his daughter has given away his second big cat.
Charles Peters had to shoot and kill Sheba on Friday evening after the lioness wouldn't let go of the arm of Peters' 33-year-old daughter, Lisa Peters.
He said he was ready to do the same to Simba. "My family has to come first," he said. But a volunteer firefighter's chance encounter helped save the male lion's life.
Bryon Thornton, assistant chief of the Liberty Township Volunteer Fire Department, ran into an animal trainer and exhibitor at a festival Saturday and mentioned the lioness attack.
The trainer contacted a colleague at Noah's Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary in Berlin Center, which said it would take Simba. Several hours later, the lion was on his way to the Northeast Ohio refuge.
Thornton said he would have hated to see such a beautiful animal destroyed.
Never had a problem
Charles Peters, who lives about 10 miles east of Chillicothe in southern Ohio, said he has kept big cats off and on for about 20 years without a problem.
"I had a tiger that used to pull my granddaughter around by the diaper," he said. "Gentle as could be."
But now he and his wife, Marty, say they're done keeping big cats.
Marty Peters said her daughter, who was in fair condition at The Ohio State University Medical Center on Sunday, is regaining feeling and movement in her hand after surgery.
Some municipalities have their own laws banning exotic pets, but Ohio has no state prohibition on keeping big cats as pets.