A serval which is a wild cat native to Africa tested positive for cocaine after it was rescued from a tree in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The big cat began roaming the streets of Cincinnati back in January after it escaped from his owner’s car during a routine traffic stop.
After escaping, the big cat wandered around and was spotted in a tree by several residents who then called the Hamilton County Dog Wardens
Responders would quickly rescue the serval in the tree and would later hand him over to the Cincinnati Animal Care shelter where the wild cat received DNA and narcotics tests.
The DNA test revealed the wild cat was indeed a serval and the narcotics test concluded the serval whose name is Amiry “tested positive for exposure to cocaine.”
The Cincinnati Zoo has taken in an African serval cat after the animal was recovered from a wild adventure. https://t.co/fuIUSgWUzN
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) March 10, 2023
Amiry is now living peacefully at the Cincinnati Zoo after his owner legally gave him away.
Per NPR:
Amiry’s owner willingly signed Amiry over to animal authorities and has cooperated with their investigation, Anderson said, which is why they are not pursuing charges at the time.
“His owner was cooperative and paid for Amiry’s care until all ownership transfers were finalized, which is when this story went public,” Cincinnati Animal Care noted in a Facebook post on Thursday.
cocaine cat.
That’s it. That’s the tweet. https://t.co/38d1jdbwq4
— NPR (@NPR) March 9, 2023
The Cincinnati Animal Care shelter tests all animals found astray after it previously treated a capuchin monkey who had Xanax and cocaine in its system.
The influx of drugs coming through the United States’ Southern Border isn’t just impacting Americans but animals too.