Tim Starkâs now-defunct wildlife facility in southern Indiana will be auctioned off
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Updated: 6:53 PM EDT Jul 14, 2021
WLKY Digital Team
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Updated: 6:53 PM EDT Jul 14, 2021
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OWNER BLAMES FOR LOSING HIS ANIMALS. REPORTER: BEHIND ME STATE , POLICE, GUARDING THE ENTRANCE TO WILDLIFE IN NEED, WHERE TIGERS AND OTHER EXOTIC ANIMALS WERE TAKEN AWAY, AND WE CAUGHT THE OWNER, TIM STARK, WHO WAS FORCED TO LEAVE BECAUSE OF A COURT ORDER. >> YOU HAVE GOT TWO GOVERNING AGENCIES WORKING IN CONSPIRACY WITH A KNOWN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION CALLED PETE. REPORTER: POLICE ESCORTED CARGO VANS AND OTHER VEHICLES INTO WILDLIFE IN NEED, A SPRAWLING COLLECTION OF CAGES NORTH OF CHARLESTOWN, INDIANA. >> THEY ARE REMOVING ANIMALS AND TAKING THEM OUT OF THE STATE, WHICH OF THE JUDGE HAS NO RIGHT DOING BECAUSE THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A TEMPORARY ORDER. REPORTER: THE OWNER INSISTED A JUDGE REFUSED TO CONSIDER HIS MOTION TO KEEP THE ANIMALS. >> THAT IS WHAT THE DELAY WAS THIS MORNING. WHILE I WAS ASKING FOR WAS TO HEARD. I WANTED TO TALK TO THE JUDGE COMMITTED TO FIND OUT IF THE JUDGE -- ALL THEY DID WAS THREATEN ME AND THEY SAID THEY WOULD HAVE ME ARRESTED. REPORTER: THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY WAS APPOINTED TO REMOVE THE ANIMALS. >> I AM IN A LOSE LOSE SITUATION. BUT I WILL PREVAIL. WILL I EVER GET MY ANIMALS BACK, NO. ONCE THEY CROSS THE STATE LINE, THEN I WOULD HAVE TO SUE THAT STATE ALONG WITH WHOEVER IS KEEPING THEM. REPORTER: STARK SAYS HE DEVOTED HIS LIFE TO THE LIONS, TIGERS AND OTHER WILDLIFE HE ALLOWED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO VISIT. >> THEY ARE GOING TO DART THE ANIMALS. I HAVE PREGNANT ANIMALS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DOES TO A PREGNANT MOTHER? NINE OUT OF 10 TIMES IT ABORTS. REPORTER: HE BLAMED CARETAKERS WHO WATCHED OVER THE PROPERTY WHILE HE WORKED IN OKLAHOMA WITH A FORMER PARTNER OF JOE EXOTIC, STAR OF THE NETFLIX DOCU-SERIES "TIGER KING." >> SO I MADE A MISTAKE. I DID GET TO MANY ANIMALS. THEY WERE NOT BEING TREATED. THEY WERE HEALTHY, BUT THEY WERE NOT TREATED FAIRLY. THEY DID NEED BIGGER ENCLOSURES. WHEN I COME BACK FROM OKLAHOMA, THAT WAS MY GOAL, TO REDO, REVAMP EVERYTHING. JENNIFER: THANK YOU. A T.V. CREW FROM THE SER