Man Says He Got Tigers From Joe Exotic. Now, an Arrest

A Nevada man has been arrested after cops raided his home and seized seven tigers—some of whom he says he got from reality-TV star Joe Exotic—that he says were his "emotional support animals." NBC News reports the raid went down on Wednesday in Pahrump, where 71-year-old Karl Mitchell was detained on suspicion of resisting arrest. Police there say Mitchell didn't have the proper permit that Nye County requires to own the tigers, and that he had breached other rules over the years.

"He has been seen walking the tigers loose around the property, off the property in the desert," Sheriff Joe McGill tells KSNV, adding that the probe into Mitchell began several months ago. "There have been social media posts from him with people interacting with the cats, which is also in violation." Mitchell, for his part, says he's a veteran with PTSD—and his partner did produce a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs that appeared to show that was the case—and that he'd saved some of the tigers in his charge from the Tiger King star.

A VA rep tells the New York Times they're looking into Mitchell's emotional support claim, but Joe Exotic (real name: Joseph Maldonado-Passage) is pushing back on the other part of Mitchell's narrative. "None of these tigers came from me," Maldonado-Passage said in a recent interview from prison, where he's serving a 21-year sentence for a failed murder-for-hire plot against animal rights activist Carole Baskin. The USDA, meanwhile, says Mitchell violated multiple cease-and-desist orders over the years to not exhibit the tigers and has been hit with almost $70,000 worth of fines.

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"They give me calmness, peace," Mitchell tells the Times. "They are our whole life, and they're our children." Mitchell, who was arrested after deputies say he wouldn't hand over the keys to the tiger cages during the raid, also caught a gun possession charge and was released from custody that same evening on $6,000 bail. He's next set to appear in court on May 15. McGill says other charges may arise, especially as some of the tigers seemed to be underweight and allegedly had water dishes filled with algae. The tigers were reportedly transported to a sanctuary in Arkansas. (More emotional support animal stories.)