UK man granted permission to keep two lions at his home
Reece Oliver, 28, from Nottinghamshire, has been granted permission to keep two lions inside his home even though some of his neighbors have objected.
Reece Oliver rescued two lion’s cubs named Rocky and Rora from a circus in the Czech Republic last February.
He paid to have the animals shipped to the UK and put them in an enclosure in the grounds in his name.
These grounds already housed a puma named Rogue.
But, the Broxtowe Borough Council objected that he needs to have permission if he wanted to keep the wild animals. The reason behind this objection was that the land was previously used as a stable yard and not an enclosure for wild animals.
But Reece, a show-jumper, claims that he is licensed to keep wild animals.
Further adding that he was not aware that he had to apply for permission for the enclosure.
After Reece submitted the application, 14 of his neighbors objected the fact that there would be wild animals living in their neighborhood. They were gravely concerned about the welfare of their own pets.
Even after the neighbors objected, Reece did not give up and continued with the application.
Reece said, “They are like my own kids. I’ve had them since they were babies and I have brought them up. I wouldn’t want to give them up for the world. It’s more than likely they will be put down if it’s turned down. It would be devastating”.
“It would be terrible – crushing – if I don’t get the permission. It would be like someone taking my children away from me.”
After all the waiting, the committee granted the much-awaited permission to Reece. He could now keep his lions by a vote of seven to five.
During an interview after the committee granted him permission, he said, “It’s the best feeling in the world, it’s the best rule ever. It’s aged me though. These last few weeks have been extremely stressful, but I know those animals would have had to have been put down”.