Lion Owners Face Charges For Dispensing Vet Drugs

Operators of Ligertown Game Farm will face felony charges of using two medicines on their African lions that escaped and terrorized the Lava Hot Springs area, Bannock County authorities say.

Dotti Martin and Bob Fieber, both 57, each will be charged with two counts of administering prescription drugs, Bannock County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Murphy said.

They are accused of administering ketamine and xylazine, sedatives used in veterinary medicine. They also are charged with 107 misdemeanor counts.

Nineteen lions were killed, the last near the community’s elementary school. Twenty-seven lions were transported to a California animal refuge, and 43 wolf-dog hybrids are being cared for at a former zoo in Roberts.

The couple, who have operated the game farm since 1986, each were charged with possession of ketamine, but the charges have been amended to felonies because the couple allegedly illegally administered both that drug and xylazine, Murphy said.

The couple’s initial court appearance on the felony charges has not been scheduled, he said. They are to be arraigned today on the misdemeanor charges.

According to court records, each is charged with 84 counts of cruelty to animals, 16 counts of public nuisance, three counts of zoning ordinance violations, two counts possession of protected wildlife, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of possession of marijuana.

Living conditions at Ligertown were “beyond belief,” according to a sheriff’s report, which noted water in some cages seemed to be diseaseridden and green.