NEWPORT BEACH : Judge Sentences Tiger Cubs’ Owner

A Balboa man who raises exotic animals was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail and three years’ probation for illegally possessing two Bengal tiger cubs and having them in the back seat of his BMW convertible in a Fashion Island parking spot.

Eric Jarvies, 24, was charged in July with not having proper permits for the cubs, failing to provide adequate shelter and failing to properly confine the animals for inspection upon entering the state. He pleaded guilty in February to one misdemeanor count of possessing the cubs without a proper permit.

Municipal Judge Richard F. Toohey ordered the jail sentence postponed while Jarvies complies with the rules of his probation, but the jail term can be imposed if he fails to do so, Deputy Dist. Atty. Joel Stone said.

Jarvies’ attorney did not return phone calls seeking comment. Jarvies also could not be reached.

Jarvies, who said in a past interview that he raises exotic cats at his ranch in Nevada, was arrested July 21, 1992, at Fashion Island, marking his third brush with the law over his animals. Jarvies has claimed in the past that he feels he is being labeled a criminal when he is only guilty of being a lover of big cats.

Last May, authorities seized seven declawed African lions in a San Clemente health food store. California animal authorities later escorted Jarvies and the lions to the California state line.

In February of last year, authorities said a monkey belonging to Jarvies bit a woman in Newport Beach.

The tiger cubs were found in Jarvies’ car while he dined at a nearby restaurant, officials said. Jarvies claimed the animals belonged to an acquaintance who loaned him the cubs for exhibition, but animal control officials say such documents are not transferable.

Previously Jarvies has said that he owns more than 50 large cats and rents them out for commercials and films, earning thousands each day the animals are being photographed.