Man’s 7 ‘emotional support’ tigers seized in Nevada

A Nevada man was arrested last week after seven tigers that he claimed were his emotional support animals were seized from his property, local authorities said.

Karl Mitchell, 71, was arrested Wednesday at his property in Pahrump, an unincorporated town in Nye County about 50 miles west of Las Vegas, on charges of resisting arrest and possession of a gun by a prohibited person, according to records from the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.

A SWAT team entered the property to seize the tigers, which the Sheriff’s Office said Mitchell had been keeping without the permit required by the county. Mitchell refused to provide keys to the tiger cages and was then arrested just before 8 a.m., according to the documents.

A handgun was also found in the bedroom of Mitchell, who is a felon, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Mitchell was released later that evening, according to the records.

Sheriff Joe McGill of Nye County told KSNV, the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas, that the investigation into Mitchell, who was also being evicted from his property, had begun several months ago. “We have known for several years he has had big cats on his property, and for the last two years, this has been in violation because he had no permits for those cats,” McGill said.

In a phone interview Sunday, Mitchell, who described himself as a veteran with PTSD, said that a doctor with the Department of Veterans Affairs had approved of his keeping the Bengal tigers as “emotional support” animals. He also provided what appeared to be a letter from the doctor.

“They give me calmness, peace,” Mitchell said. “They are our whole life, and they’re our children.”

A spokesperson from the Veterans Affairs Department said that officials there were looking into the claims that Mitchell had been given permission to keep the animals but did not have any further information Monday.

The Sheriff’s Office would not comment on whether or not Mitchell was authorized to keep the tigers as his “emotional support” animals, or what kind of condition they were found in Wednesday.

In a statement, Carole Baskin’s group, Big Cat Rescue, said there had been a lengthy battle to rescue Mitchell’s animals.

According to Big Cat Rescue, the seven tigers had been transferred to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.