A local wildlife expert won't get his money back for taking care of someone else's big cats.
Vernon Yates loves animals. He has three pet tigers and the rest of the wildlife found on his Seminole property are rescues.
“Between monkeys, alligators, snakes, parrots, and everything else, there’s probably about 250 animals here,” said Yates, who own Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Inc. in Seminole.
When the state called Yates to take two tigers and a leopard that had been confiscated from a Palm Beach facility owned by “Tarzan” actor Steve Sipek, he agreed.
As Sipek battled with the courts over the cats, Yates cared for them at the state’s request.
Over the last year and a half, the two tigers and a leopard have gone through about 70-80 pounds of food every day. Yates said it has cost him about $60,000 to care for them.
A judge ruled that Sipek will get the cats back but they cannot be cared for on his property and Sipek does not have to pay Yates a dime for caring for them.
It’s frustrating for Yates but he said he is not going to fight it because the cats have been so ferocious.
“I’m really glad. The whole legal system, I could drag it out for another year. Um, theoretically I’m glad to be getting rid of the cats,” said Yates. "Unfortunately, people like myself… we lose in the long run."
He said he is ok with that because he does it for the animals.