Serval owner faces 21 criminal charges after cat escapes and attacks dog

by Michael Broad · January 1, 2020

This is another example of failed serval cat ownership. A complete disaster. Ezekiel Elliott is an American football star and his father, Stacy Elliott, allegedly bought a serval without a permit. Servals have to be confined with the owner’s property because they are too large to wander around. They are wild animals. They frighten the public and can cause harm. They are unsuitable as pets but they are considered ‘exotic’ by people obsessed with possessing exotic things.

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Stacy Elliot. Photo in public domain.

Well, Mr Elliot’s serval escaped. This is not unusual because servals like to roam over huge areas in the wild. To confine them is hard and unnatural. Allegedly the escaped serval attacked a neighbour’s dog. This would not surprise me either as the dog would be prey to a serval provided the dog was not too big.

Oh, and also the serval had allegedly been neglected because it was grossly underweight. So the cat was allegedly starving. No surprise then that it attacked a dog for food.

Stacy Elliott is facing 21 charges. They include:

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Allowing a dangerous wild animal to escape;
Failure to notify of a dangerous wild animal escape;
Possession of a dangerous wild animal;
Neglecting the animal;
Owning a wild animal without a permit.

You could add, criminal damage and he could be sued in the civil courts for damage to the dog owner’s property (their dog).

Serval – photo copyright Helmi Flick. Photo to show you what a serval looks like.

All because Mr Elliot fancied owning an exotic cat which he was allegedly incapable of looking after. I’d bet his home has been sprayed with serval urine too.

One last point. The Washington Post headline is: Ezekiel Elliott’s father charged after exotic cat is shot by Ohio authorities. So, the cat is dead too. No surprise there either.

P.S. This is an opinion article and not strict news.

Report: CBS Sports.com

SOME MORE EXAMPLES OF SERVAL ESCAPES: