When someone dumped a jaguar cub in Alpine in 2021, no one knew the legal battle that would follow or the scandal it would reveal. NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes explains the full story now that the case is solved.
Eddie is a rambunctious and loving jaguar who acts nothing like what he’s been through.
“We found him on our road, abandoned in front of our front gate,” said Bobbi Brink, the founder of Lions Tigers and Bears. “So he was in a small cage like you'd buy in a pet kennel and, of course, he was just covered in his own feces and missing hair.”
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Brink founded the sanctuary in Alpine to rescue animals illegally bought and abandoned.
“We have 65 animals, 19 different species,” Brink said. “Every single one has their own story.”
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While Eddie spent the next three years recovering at the sanctuary, authorities worked to find who left him in such bad shape.
Investigators say that Trisha Meyer, a Texas woman pleaded guilty to trafficking an endangered species.
“A lot of times, they're bred for nothing more than to be played with, carted around, have your photo taken with, and then when they're too old to do that, a lot of them are killed, they disappear, they're sold off as a pet, or they get dumped at a sanctuary, luckily, like Eddie,” Brink said.
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Meyer’s sentencing is in November. Her felony charge could get her five years in federal prison.
Brink said Meyer’s case is a drop in the bucket and wildlife trafficking is second to drugs, weapons and human trafficking. A lot of these animals come through the Long Beach Port and the San Diego/Mexico border.
Now that Eddie's case is resolved, the public can visit Lions Tigers and Bears to hear his full story and learn how to protect other jaguars from going through the same thing.
