Ligertown Owners File $30 Million Tort Claim They Allege One Of Their Lions Was Improperly Killed.

Wed., Nov. 29, 1995

Associated Press

The owners of the Ligertown complex near Lava Hot Springs have filed a $30 million claim with Bannock County, alleging one of their lions was improperly killed in September.

Bannock County officials on Monday received the claim from Robert Fieber and Dotti Martin. It also was sent to Woney Peters of Lava Hot Springs.

A tort claim must be filed and denied by a governmental agency before a lawsuit can be filed.

The claim asks $30 million in damages and attorney fees.

Bannock County officials said 19 lions from the Ligertown complex were shot to death after some of them escaped starting Sept. 20.

The complex was closed and surviving lions and wolf hybrids were moved to other locations. The couple faces 107 misdemeanor criminal charges centered around mistreatment of animals.

A magistrate decided on Monday to pick a six-person jury in Cassia County to hear the trial on the misdemeanor charges, which is scheduled for Jan. 22 in Pocatello.

Peters said he shot the lion on Sept. 28 near his home. But the Fieber-Martin claim alleges that it actually was shot by Peters on Sept. 20 and moved to near the school to frighten the community.

A hearing to decide whether Ligertown property should be condemned as a health hazard has been rescheduled for Dec. 8. Attorney Kim Claussen, who is helping Martin and Robert Fieber appeal condemnation, said Tuesday he was retained in the case last week and didn’t have time to prepare.

“Their property isn’t going anywhere,” Claussen told an appeals board. “The county isn’t losing anything by postponing it,” he said.

Fieber and Martin say their constitutional right to due process was violated when the county refused to allow them to return to their mobile home at the complex after the animals escaped.

Fieber and Martin are living in McCammon.

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