Waystation considers moving some animals out of state Colette considers facility in Arizona, state officials 'monitoring the situation.'
By RYAN CARTER
ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- Arizona could be the next frontier for Wildlife Waystation founder Martine Colette and the animals.
The 160-acre animal refuge in Los Angeles, established by Colette in the 1970s, was ordered on April 7 to stop receiving animals and tours.
California Department of Fish and Game inspectors say water tainted with animal excrement flowed into local streams and illegal caging conditions endangered animals at the facility in the hills above Los Angeles.
For three years, Colette has been in negotiations to build a facility in northwest Arizona where she has a residence.
Colette said she envisions a sanctuary -- more like a wild animal park -- where rescued animals can roam free on somewhere between 500 and 1,000 acres in Mohave County. Colette is exploring the possibility of a sanctuary on the Fort Mojave Tribe Indian reservation, said Bob Posey, field supervisor for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. That, he said, would subject Colette only to tribal and federal law.
"Arizona has always been a state I've spent a lot of time in,"Colette said. "I wanted a bigger facility, where animals could be free, roaming in naturalistic settings.
"The (California) Department of Fish and Game doesn't really want wildlife sanctuaries here and they are making it difficult. I wanted to go to a state where the department was friendly to animal causes."
Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game, said the state has done nothing to discourage sanctuaries.
Colette stresses she's not moving the waystation and vows the Los Angeles "ranch," which she and the nonprofit organization which bears the waystation's name owns, will survive.
But the Arizona center would be bigger and more hospitable, she said.
"We have 50 African lions here," she said. "They have a good life but I would much rather see large groups of lions in loving, free-roaming environments."
As Colette's lawyers were asking California officials on Tuesday to lift the cease-and-desist order, she said, she might write letters to Arizona officials and meet with them to talk about her plans and the allegations.
"We're monitoring the situation," Posey said. "But it has no bearing on the application process.
As long as she meets our guidelines and stipulations for her zoo license, then we'll consider her application."
Posey said Colette wants a license for a small temporary facility near the Colorado River. She has six enclosures there now but they are empty because she does not have a permit and a holding license for chimpanzees has not been renewed, he said.
In March, the Arizona department cited Colette for having a rescued Bengal tiger cub named Butterfly Hunter on the property without permits. Hunter is staying at another Arizona facility. A court date is scheduled for Tuesday in Bullhead City, Ariz.
Still, Posey said, Colette's application will stand on its own merits.
"Even if she's criminally charged, unless there are stipulations that she can't conduct that business, we still have to consider her applications."