Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Bobcat gets reprieve in Hailey

Owner has until August to remove wild cat from city

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By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

The city of Hailey has laws against keeping wild animals as pets. A Woodside resident found this out last week when a rather large cat jumped his fence. He called the police.

Turns out the feline was no mere housecat, but a bobcat kept by Anthony Pruitt. Hailey police ordered Pruitt to remove the cat from the city limits. Instead, Pruitt showed up at a Hailey City Council meeting last week, asking for a break.

He told the council that the cat has been de-clawed and that it has had all of its shots. He also said it was a treasured pet and part of the family.

"It thinks it is a dog," he said.

Hailey Mayor Rick Davis and Police Chief Jeff Gunter agreed last week to allow Pruitt to keep the bobcat until Pruitt's rental lease expires in August, at which time he said he will leave town.

"He can keep the bobcat until then, but he has to keep it inside," Davis said.

Hailey city code prohibits the keeping of wildlife species and defines such species as "any form of animal life, either native or exotic, which normally lives in a state of nature."

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Bobcats grow to be about twice the size of average housecats.

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com