Coral Springl, Fl
Marvl1e & ClIConuf Creek
Forum
Mllml- Ft l l ud. rd. 11

Ihl Arn

Th""'" OCT 17, 2e e2W22,1100

Lost pet lynx found in Margate
Cat now being

NICE KITTY1:
.This lynx was

taken care of at

found roaming
arou nd in
Margate. It is
now being
taken care of at
Vanish ing
Species, a
non-profit
wild life
sanctuary in
Davie.

wildlifesanctuary.
FilOIIT

B, BIClYTOOSYA

F O I U... STAH W I ITU

-

.

It looked like a lost eat.
just a rather large one.
It was ~ O p.m.' on a
recent Sun day. Denise
Hynson was sitting with
her family by the Dunkin
Donuts when she saw it
pa cing down Sample
Road and then sitting qui etly on the sidewalk.
She could not believe
her eyes .
It was a Canadian or
North American Lynx, an
exotic cat, which was
quite out of place on -

Staff photol

JKquellrw c..rlnl

Margate's streets .
"I took off, trying to
keep up wi th her to watch
her," sa.:(! Hynson, who
lives in Margate and is
known as "The Cat Lady"
Instead, When police
because she regularly called Florida Fish and
feeds the neighborhood's Wildlife, lbey reported a
stray cats.
bobcat, which is considHer husband Joe caDed ered a local cat, Th ey also
th e police, thinking they said it had no collar and
would do the right thing.
sh ot the cat with a taser

to take the cat down. its
future was grim, 50 she
decided to stay there to
make sure lbey didn't kill it.
"She is really a sweet
cat," said Hynson of th e 21pound fem ale cat. "She
wasn't hurting anyone ."
But Hynson also understands that police are not
trained for something like
Ibis .
For animal control officer Kelly Slade, it was the
first time she ever had to
deal with an exotic cat "It's
a beautiful cat," she said.
She knew it was an exotic because of its size . an d
she noticed that lt had an
electronic collar on.
But Slade said !hat any
wild animal can pose problems . "Any cat like this can
be dangerous," she said. "It

Luckily for the cat.
Vanishing Species, a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary in
Davie, was contacted.
"She seems to be
healthy," said Barbara
Harrod
of
Vanishing
Species . "All that she
sho uld be doing, sh e's
doing, except being nice
and sweet."
And th at's understandab ly so.
In order to trap the cat,
her husban d Jeff had to
chase it, and he had to use
two tranquilizer guns to
catch it. The cat is still recuperating from the influence
of the drugs.
They fed it raw chicken,
whi ch il seem ed to like,
although normally in the
wild it would be hunting
rabbits and deer in some

snowy moun tains .

As it walked toward the
food, th e cat shook its fron t
paws, as if they were hurtcould attack people or in g. Harrod sh ook her
other animals.to head; she thinks it's still

gun at least three times, just got down fro m lbe
Hynson said.
tree and ran to the next
"I don't think !hey han- tree."
dled the situati on correctPolice told her that if
y ," she said. "I just don't !hey coul dn't find anyone
think it was necessary; all
it did was make it mad. It _ lna rontinlltSon "
hurting from th e taser
shocks .
"I asers may work on
humans, but it doesn't really work on cats," s he said.
Harrod kn ows abo ut
exoticcats.
Along with two cats and
a dog in her house, she also
has two baby tigers, a baby
puma, a young puma, a
wild cat, and now the lynx
- that's besides th e parrots
and other unique and exotic small animals she has in
other cages in the house .
This ·9-month-old "lynx
has gray and brown fur
with black spots and
stripes, a lot of fur aro und
the face and ears, a little
bo bcat tail, and big webbed
paws to be able to run fast
in lbe sn ow.
_ "Ibis lynx has been to
the vet before because all
four paws have been
declawed," HamxI said.
She thinks the cat
bel ongs to someo ne in
Margate , but Hynson, who

state 1~ a class two
found the cat, disagrees .
"I just can't imagine any- permit fro m anyone wh o
one in Margate owning -owns one.
One of the requirements
one, she said, po inting out
that the lots in Margate are for the permit is that the
not large enough for some- person needs to spe nd
1.000 hours of hands-on
one to own an exotic cat
Perhaps the owner of the time with the animal, or 100
cat has not ro me forward hours of hands-on time an d
because he or she may not take a test.
have a license, said
Harrod owns several
Hynson, who has been try- permits an d licenses to take
ing to locate the owner.
care of the tigers and
Owning a pet lynx is not pumas and all the other anieasy; it takes a certain kind mals she trains for shows ,
of perso n who is willing television an d special OCCBan d able to adjust to this sions .
kind of lifestyle.
"I just hope her parents
"It's a major investment," show up," she said.
She watches the lynx fall
she said. "It's not like own ing a dog that you can take asleep and in her heart she
to a kennel and drop it off hopes she gets to keep her
an d rome back three weeks and train her.
"If nobody claims her.
later."
A pet lynx would cost then wel1 put her on our
about S2.500, Harrod said. program," she said
Yet it is not money, but
.
time , that is required to
Becky Toosya can be
have a nice pet lynx.
Lynxe s are cons idered reached at (954) 752-7474 or
an exotic species, so the at btoosya@tribune.rom.