BERLIN TOWNSHIP Sanctuary asks for time to fight lion's move

A lawyer for Noah's Lost Ark says the status quo should be maintained.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Lawyers for a Berlin Township animal sanctuary are asking a judge to give them more time to fight to keep a lion here instead of sending it to California.
They want visiting Judge Charles J. Bannon of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to overrule a request to set a date for the sanctuary to hand the lion over to William Long, who has been deemed by the courts as the lion's legal owner.
"This case is a procedural and substantive train wreck," Atty. Ned C. Gold wrote in documents filed Tuesday in common pleas court. "Granting the motion would only add to the chaos."
The case centers around ownership of the lion, named Boomerang, kept at Noah's Lost Ark animal sanctuary on Bedell Road since October.
Long, who lives in the Columbus suburb Upper Arlington, 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.
Won't hand over lion
Owners of Noah's, though, have maintained that the animal was abandoned with them and that Long no longer is the owner. They have refused to hand him over to Long despite court rulings ordering them to do so and have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn those lower court rulings.
Long's lawyers filed a request two weeks ago in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court asking that the court set a date for Noah's to hand over the lion to Long. Gold filed his response to that request Tuesday.
He said ordering transfer of the lion at this point would prohibit the Supreme Court from being able to review the case. It would also preclude Noah's from filing another appeal in U.S. District Court, Youngstown, which is planned in the near future, Gold wrote.
He said Long intends to take Boomerang back to Franklin County before sending him to California, but that Franklin County has health regulations that would prohibit that.
"Moving Boomerang requires great logistical planning and humanitarian care," Gold wrote in court documents. "Granting the plaintiff's motion will lead to a rushed and haphazard transport of Boomerang."
bjackson@vindy.com