State officials this morning removed five tigers from a Marion County property near Waldo after the owner did not meet state requirements.
Mike Stapleton had owned some of the tigers for 10 years. Stapleton says he knew his application was in limbo because he had not gotten the required insurance nor built new cages under a state law that passed 3 years ago.
He says he still was in shock when the authorities arrived after 7.
"They said I wasn't being faithful, I wasn't in good faith with what I was doing. And they just didn't want to work with me any longer. They didn't want to give me anymore time," Stapleton said.
Department of Agriculture Spokeswoman, Erica Hawkins says time ran out of Stapleton.
"He had filed an application a year and a half ago to obtain the permit but it was significantly incomplete and he never really made significant progress toward completely the process," Hawkins said.
Hawkins says the animals will be cared for at the state's temporary holding facility in Reynoldsburg, until a sanctuary that meets state requirements can be identified.
