Serval is rescued in Cincinnati after it escaped owner during an arrest
Cocaine Bear, hold my beer: Serval with drugs in his system is captured in Cincinnati after escaping while police were arresting his owner
- The 35-pound cat was rescued from a tree in Ohio after escaping from its owner
- DNA tests identified him as a serval and cocaine was found in his system
- The exotic animal can triple the size of traditional cats and is native to Africa
An exotic cat with cocaine in its system was captured in Ohio after escaping from its owner’s car during a police arrest.
The 35-pound cat, initially thought to be a leopard, got out of the car when police opened one of the doors.
Once free, he hid in a tree before a traumatic rescue effort left him with a broken leg.
The animal was taken to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden for treatment after a DNA test identified it as a serval named Amiry.
Servals are a type of wild cat native to Africa and are illegal to keep in Ohio.
They can grow to be more than three times the size of typical cats and jump up to nine feet.
The exotic cat, named Amiry, had cocaine in her system when she was rescued in Ohio
The serval hid in a tree in Cincinnati’s Oakley neighborhood after he escaped from his owner’s car in January during a police arrest.
The cat’s escape occurred as police were arresting its owner on January 28. When they opened one of the car doors, he ran away and hid in a tree. fox19 informed.
Hamilton County Dog Wardens responded to reports of a leopard sighting in the Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati.
Ray Anderson of Cincinnati Animal CARE was present during the dramatic recovery, telling Fox19 that in hindsight, more staff would have been helpful.
‘[They weren’t] sure what they were dealing with,’ he said. “In hindsight, being 20/20, it probably would have involved a lot more people.”
Anderson said the uncooperative cat was “not thrilled” about being removed from the tree, making the rescue operation especially difficult.
“Obviously the cat didn’t want to get out of the tree and our officers were working very hard to make sure they didn’t lose the cat in the process, yes the leg was broken,” he added.
The shelter’s medical staff examined the serval’s physical health and worked on his leg. As a standard part of treatment, a toxicology report was also made.
“He tested positive for cocaine,” Anderson said. Now, we can’t say how the animal got the cocaine into the system. I don’t know if it was environmental or experimental.
“Our initial thought was that the cat was an F1 Savannah hybrid, which is legal to own in Ohio, but our expert was pretty sure Amiry was a serval, which is illegal to own,” Anderson said. WLWT 5.
DNA testing at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden revealed that although it was initially thought to be a Savannah cat, it was actually a serval.
Serval cats are illegal in Ohio and can grow to be three times the size of regular cats.
After being treated, the serval was transferred to a nearby zoo where it was said to be doing “fine”.
After his rehabilitation at the shelter, the cat was transferred to the zoo. A zoo spokesperson said in a statement that he was receiving veterinary care and was doing “fine,” Fox19 reported.
“The next step will be for our Cat Ambassador Program team to work with him and determine if he is a good candidate to be an ambassador animal. It is likely that he will be behind the scenes for a while,” the spokesperson said.
Authorities said the cat’s owner had cooperated with an investigation. Hamilton County Dog Wardens chose not to press charges.