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B.C. man fighting to keep two pet cheetahs

Earl Pfeifer, who lives in Crawford Bay, set to appear before appeal board for five-day hearing
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A B.C. couple who own a pair of cheetahs in the West Kootenay are speaking to the Environmental Appeal Board this week, in hopes of getting back the right to own the African cats.

A five-day hearing is underway this week for Earl Pfeifer, who lives in Crawford Bay – one year after a decision made under the provincial Wildlife Act denied their application to possess the two cheetahs.

Pfeifer has owned the cheetahs for five years. Him and partner Carol Plato made international headlines back in 2015 when one of the animals escaped and was spotted roaming along a highway near Kootenay Bay.

To this day, it’s not known where that cheetah is.

READ MORE: Cheetah on the loose near southeastern B.C.’s Crawford and Kootenay bays

Black Press Media has reached out to Pfeifer and Plato for comment.

In 2016, the couple was charged with possessing an alien species without a permit, but the charge was dropped in 2017.

The hearing is expected to wrap up Friday.


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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About the Author: Ashley Wadhwani-Smith

I began my journalistic journey at Black Press Media as a community reporter in my hometown of Maple Ridge, B.C.
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