Ohio man faces multiple charges for allegedly violating Ohio's exotic animal law

A Canal Winchester man is facing charges for allegedly owning an unlicensed exotic serval cat which had escaped, attacked and injured a pet dog on October 13th.

The cat was then killed by a Fairfield County Sheriff Department deputy after the animal appeared to get ready to attack the law enforcement official.

Bringing nine charges against Stacy Elliott, a.k.a. Stacy El-Muhammad, was the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which is the state-designated agency for regulating the keeping and licensing of exotic animals.

Ohio adopted this law in 2014, and currently there are fewer than 40 such permits in existence.

“The number of permits have been on the decline,” said David Hunt, the chief of enforcement for the Agriculture Department. “Owners were grandfathered in but once the animals die the permit goes, too, and new ones are not being issued. The exception is for venomous and constrictor snakes.”

The Agriculture Department-led charges filed against El-Muhammad include:

• Failure to notify of dangerous wild animal (DWA) escape.
• Falsification.
• Obstruction of official business.
• Allowing DWA to escape.
• Failure to notify law enforcement of DWA escape.
• Failure to have DWA signage at property entrance.
• Possession of a DWA.
• Failure to obtain DWA permit.
• Failure to have DWA signage on cage.

Of these, eight charges are first-degree misdemeanors. A first-degree misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail, a $1000 fine, or both. The falsification charge is a second degree misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $750, up to 90 days in jail, or both.

El-Muhammad – who also is the father of Dallas Cowboys running back and former player with The Ohio State University football team, Ezekiel Elliott - may face other charges, possibly brought by other agencies involved, says Hunt.

Working in conjunction with the Agriculture Department and the Fairfield County Sheriff Department were the Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Wildlife, the Fairfield Area Humane Society and the Fairfield County Dog Warden, said Shelby Croft with the Agricultural Department.

Investigators with the Agriculture Department and the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at the property as part of the investigation.

Croft said investigators spoke with El-Muhammad, who allegedly claimed he was keeping the serval cat, but wasn’t its owner.

“The charges are related to the fact he did not have a permit and did not house the properly,” Croft said.“We have a permitting process in place for this.”

Investigators were able to use the animal’s microchip to trace its ownership, alleging it was sold to El-Muhammad, who does not hold the required permit to own a serval in Ohio, Croft said.

“The investigation was relatively short but there were postings on Instagram and that took us a while to obtain information from,” Hunt said as well. “Consequently, this is still an on-going investigation.”

The serval cats is the only member of the genus Leptailurus. It is a slender-bodied feline, that stands up to 24 inches at the shoulder and can weigh 30 to 40 pounds; or about the size of a bobcat.

The Canadian-based International Society for Endangered Cats says the serval cat’s coat “is pale yellow, with black markings consisting either of large spots that tend to merge into longitudinal stripes on the neck and back, or numerous small spots which give the animal a ‘speckled’ appearance.”

Likewise, the serval has the longest legs of any cat relative to its body size, and is purportedly capable of jumping between six and ten feet in order to pounce on its intended prey.

Native to Africa, the sevral cat is found in 38 countries on that continent, particularly in its central and southern regions, the Society says also.

Serval cats are officially listed by international agreement as a “Species of Least Concern,” owing to its stable population.

The cats are available commercially, but can cost upwards of $9,000 to $10,000, based on an Internet selling-buying activity search. They cannot be brought into Ohio, owing to the requirements of the 2014 law.

Similar to serval cats are so-called hybrid “Savannah cats,” which still cost several thousand dollars for a kitten, and which do contain both serval cat and domesticated cat DNA.

- Jeffrey L. Frischorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@Gmail.com