someone's illegal pet found roaming about Massachusetts. to be placed in zoo or sanctuary

[Demovictory9]

The MSPCA-Angell’s Community Outreach team received a call Tuesday afternoon about a large cat roaming a Lincoln neighborhood — not unusual.

The large cat, however, turned out to be a serval, a wild feline native to sub-Saharan Africa — which is very unusual.

“It is illegal to own a serval in Massachusetts and, as with other wild animals, their physical and behavioral needs cannot be met when kept as a pet,” said Kara Holmquist, the director of advocacy at the MSPCA-Angell, in a statement. “This results in harm to the animal, and potential danger to people and other animals.”

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/01/05/mspca-nabs-rare-african-serval-cat-in-lincoln-neighborhood/

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The MSPCA said it will determine the best possible course of treatment, which may include amputation of the leg.

Unfortunately, Bruno wasn’t wearing any ID tags and wasn’t microchipped, making it difficult to identify his owner, according to the MSPCA.

“This serval is as wild as any found in Africa and the MSPCA will look to place him ultimately with a zoo or sanctuary once his treatment and recovery (are) complete — he is not available for adoption,” according to the statement.

[XanaDUer2]

1. Hes a cutie nt

[Deuxcents]

2. Somebody knows about this..

This is not your every day kitty. I hope the people are found n punished for this cruelty.

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. I stayed at a hotel once.

One of those cats was a guest with his owners. (May have been something that looked quite similar).

It was really pretty, but the owners seemed to have a lot of difficulty restraining it. My two toy poodles were terrified, and gave it an extra wide berth.

[jmowreader]

4. Everyone who has one, has trouble restraining it

There are websites about owning these, and they’re all very clear: if it ever gets out of the house, you’ll never see it again.

Then again, you don’t have to worry about it being eaten by a coyote…I’d be more worried about the coyote population.

[Demovictory9]

6. I would hate thinking I would never see my pet again, once it got out of house

which is probably what happened with this Serval.

my feisty house cat snuck out, I didn't realize it until she was crying like baby to get back in, pawing at the door. I would hope my Serval would do the same.

[Bayard]

5. Good gawd!

"My guess he was being kept to breed savannahs,” Alyssa Krieger, the community outreach manager at MSPCA Boston, told the station. Savannahs, a type of cat breed, have a serval and a domestic cat for parents. It’s also illegal in Massachusetts to own these hybrids, according to the MSPCA.

Poor, beautiful boy! Not only should the owners be prosecuted, but the people who smuggled him into the country.

[wnylib]

9. That was myfirst thought, too. The Savannah cat is a hybrid

between a serval and a domestic cat. They have to be bred for a few generations before they can be sold as pets.

Same is true for the bengal cat breed. It is a hybrid between an Asian wild cat and a domestic cat. The domestic cat most often interbred with the Asian wild cat to produce a bengal is the Egyptian Mau, but sometimes an Abyssinian is used, too. Bengals have to be cross bred with domestics into the 4th generation before they can be legally sold as pets.

[Bayard]

10. So, who keeps track of these breedings?

[wnylib]

11. The breeder. It is their responsibility to keep track of each generation, just like

they would do with any pedigreed cat. But with the bengal or savannah, they can't sell them as pets until the 4th generation. I guess they can keep the in-between generations for additional breeding. But, that's only when starting a new line of bengal or savannah cats. Once there are 4th generation legal ones, they can be interbred with each other.

Some breeders are less responsible with their animals than others.

[niyad]

7. May Lady Bast deal with the poachers and enablers and the selfish, arrogant assholes

apropriately.

And blessings to all involved in helping this beautiful little being.

[Demovictory9]

8. he is beautiful.

[niyad]

12. He is indeed. But so scared.