Man banned from Columbus Zoo told to leave Berlin Twp. animal sanctuary
BERLIN CENTER, Ohio - A man banned from the Columbus Zoo for jumping over barriers to pet cougars, showed up at a Valley animal sanctuary and was asked to leave.
Animal keeper's at Noah's Lost Ark say Josh Newell of Columbus initially called their Berlin Center facility, identified himself and said he wanted a personal tour.
Jessica Bryant who is a tour guide and animal keeper at Noah's Lost Ark says, "He just wanted us to give him a behind the stage tour of our facility, and pretty much let him touch our animals. I told him we were are not pet facility. We do not touch our animals here."
But Newell not only called, but showed up at the valley animal sanctuary and bought a ticket. But it's his behavior of allegedly showing up with a selfie-stick and changing his shirt that caught the tour guide's attention.
"When he changed his shirt into his cougar love shirt then I realized who he was right away," Bryant said.
The 35-year-old Columbus area man pleaded no contest to criminal trespassing at the Columbus Zoo in July. He was fined $200, spent two-days in jail and was banned from the zoo for two years. Newell recorded his stunt of petting cougars on YouTube.
Ellen Karnofel, the Owner of Noah's Lost Ark feared he would allegedly become a liability there. "The first concern was that he was going to do what he did at the zoo and jump over a fence and try and pet a cat. He's very fortunate those cats did not harm him. I can't say the same would have happened here. He would have stuck his arm in with one of our cougars, he probably would have gotten bitten and possibly killed," said Karnofel.
Noah's Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary is the only licensed rescue facility of it's kind in the state of Ohio right now, and the owner says she's not willing to risk the lives of the animals or the license of the facility for someone who may be trying to gain notoriety.
"My staff has been instructed to pretty much do what they need to do to protect the animals. Animals come first here," Karnofel said.
According to Karnofel and a report filed with the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department, Newell was asked to leave the animal rescue facility and appeared somewhat angry but did comply.
Newell could not be reached for comment.
