Nevermind that Dan Vitilio has been ordered to get rid of his pet Siberian lynx ? immediately ? three times now.
This summer, the 50-pound bobcat relative is splashing around in an inflatable baby pool Vitilio set up in the backyard of his Kingsville ranch.
“I was just out messing around with him a few minutes ago,” Vitilio said. “He?s doing great.”
But time could be running out for Vitilio?s friendship with 2-year-old Puddy, who?s lived on the ranch with peacocks, goats, a pig, miniature horses and several exotic birds since the cat was 8 weeks old.
Vitilio said he recently learned a Baltimore County Circuit Court judge has upheld decisions by the county?s animal control and appellate boards ordering him to get rid of his lynx.
Vitilio, who vowed to take his case to the state?s Court of Special Appeals, argued in March that the county?s decision should be overturned because his lawyer could not make a postponed hearing date and he, ill-prepared, had to represent himself.
Animal control officers testified in June that the lynx ? which they said could grow to 90 pounds and kill prey up to three times its size ? poses a public threat because there is no proven rabies vaccine. County lawyers called Vitilio?s procedural argument a “self-inflicted hardship.”
“This is akin to a criminal defendant requesting a trial date beyond the 180-day expiration of limitations and then later challenging the state for lack of prompt prosecution,” lawyer Nancy West wrote.
