BARRY COUNTY, Mich. -- Stephanie Warren is a loan officer by day and a self-proclaimed crazy cat lady by night.
“I thought it would be kind of cool to work at a zoo," explains Stephanie, "but I would feel bad not being able to take them home with me, so that’s kind of what we did this time.”
She has two cats, Professor and Jynx, and for a while that was enough. But one day on a walk in Kentwood, she saw a couple walking a pair of servals and she thought, "OK,that’s it. "We have to have one.”
One exotic pet license, two months of research and $5,000 later, Stephanie was the proud owner of her very own serval.
Felixx weighs in around 40 pounds and looks like a small cheetah. But don't go buying one just yet.
Stephanie says that the price isn't the only thing you should consider. She says she can't leave the cat home alone and she hasn't gone on a vacation in two years.
Servals are native to the grasslands of Africa, feed on small rodents and, in captivity live, into their mid-thirties.
Connor van Oss
Disappointed Fox17, promoting people owning WILD ANIMALS as pets… This should be illegal–as it is in other places. That poor animal, not able to exercise his/her natural instincts. Shame on you for encouraging this behavior.
Samantha T
Poor thing guessing shes declawed too you dont have a nice leather couch with cat’s with claws. Keep wild animals wild
Cindy
This isn’t a serval, it’s a savannah. And if she only paid $5000 for it, it’s 3-4 generations away from a wild serval. A true serval is $15,000-20,000.
Savannah
Sampson was a serval. He was well cared for and loved endlessly. Before people judge that he wasn’t taken care of, he had a huge enclosure in the forrest with 6 other -cats as well as another enclosure on the porch., he ate raw meat every day, beef, chicken, spoiled. He loved his owner and she IS NOT crazy.
Hayley
This SERVAL is a very happy and well cared for animal. I have seen the proof that he definitely has his claws! There are many things that should be illegal that aren’t but she did her training, has a license and continues to do her research. Get off the negativity people :)
Annie
Such a cruel thing to have such a beautiful wild animal confined to such a small world. Licenses should never be given to the general public unless it is to do a temporary fostering only. Taking an extensive on hand set of courses on how to handle and treat any “Cute” wild animal. I for one are very happy she has not had a vacation. Hope she’s not planning on a family either. Wild animals and children not a wise choice. That $5000 would have been used by a Rescue. She could have volunteered her time to the rescue, if she wanted to play. For $5000 she could have traveled to the area they are from to see first hand what damage they will do to a human. Idiot decision not just on her part but for our laws allowing such cruelty .
Birgit Hutchcroft
Just love these ignorant responses from people who have probably not even seen a serval close up.
I own 3, am licensed and trust me, they are very content happy creatures. Before you ignorantly spout off, inform yourself prior. African serval cats can make devoted and rewarding pets,( and have been for thousands of years) if given the right circumstances and living conditions. They actually have dog like traits, can fetch, be leash trained and love water and swimming.