Troubled Tiger Rescue Sanctuary Closed to Public

Attorneys for John Weinhart, the operator of a tiger sanctuary who was arrested last week after 90 dead tigers were discovered at his home, said Saturday that the Colton facility will be closed to the public.

Billed as a retirement home for unwanted tigers, leopards and lions that appeared in movies and TV commercials, the Tiger Rescue sanctuary has become a popular local weekend attraction where visitors could have their photos taken with a tiger cub for $20.

The gates to Tiger Rescue were closed and padlocked Saturday, and Weinhart’s attorney said they will remain shut for the foreseeable future. The five-acre facility, which houses 72 exotic cats, is on the site of a former sewage treatment plant. The closing came after U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors showed up Saturday for a surprise inspection, forcing the cancellation of a scheduled tour.

“It won’t be open to the public for quite some time,” said Anthony Kimbirk, Weinhart’s court-appointed attorney. “John doesn’t want to profit from the tabloid aspect of this.”

Weinhart’s reputation as a benevolent caretaker was called into question in November after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Fish and Game. He was ultimately charged with 14 misdemeanors involving improper care and feeding of the animals, and authorities seized 10 tiger cubs from the sanctuary, which is licensed to house the cats but not to breed them.

Acting on a tip, authorities searching for a single unaccounted-for cub raided Weinhart’s home in nearby Glen Avon on April 22. They found 58 dead tiger cubs stuffed into freezers, 30 dead adult tigers, and several more malnourished tiger and leopard cubs roaming the property.

Weinhart, 60, and his companion, Marla Smith, were arrested and charged with one count of child endangerment because their 8-year-old son was living among the animals.

Although Weinhart has kept a low profile since his arrest, his supporters have mounted a spirited public defense on his behalf, citing the rescue operation he has run for 30 years.

Two attorneys and a Tiger Rescue spokesman fielded some questions Saturday from behind a padlocked chain-link gate as a half-dozen ostriches and emus frolicked in an adjacent lot.

Kimbirk and Weinhart’s friend, attorney Linda Adams, said the bad publicity threatens the future of the sanctuary, and Adams pleaded for financial donations to continue. Kimbirk insisted that closing would result in the euthanizing of the 72 big cats at the seven-acre facility because there are no available centers to take the lions, tigers and leopards.

Tiger Rescue spokesman Steve Jeffries said he has worked at the sanctuary for eight years and has never seen animals mistreated.

“If they were mistreated in any way, shape or form, I would have been the first to pick up the phone,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries and Kimbirk would not discuss the dead animals, but Kimbirk noted that it is illegal to trash or bury a dead animal at a residence. Jeffries suggested that Tiger Rescue has a poor relationship with a nearby rendering plant, the local facility authorized to dispose of dead animals.

But Lamar Hendrix, a volunteer at Tiger Rescue, suggested a different explanation for the collection of carcasses.

Weinhart, Hendrix said, “can’t throw anything away. He’s a pack rat.”

Marlan Hilbert, another Tiger Rescue volunteer, spoke to reporters while the inspection was underway.

The inspector “has John pegged as the killer, not the savior. She wants these animals put to sleep,” Hilbert said.

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Times staff writer Lance Pugmire contributed to this report.