Ezekiel Elliott’s father facing 21 charges for illegally keeping exotic cat as pet
The father of Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is facing 21 charges for illegally keeping an exotic cat as a pet.
Elliott’s father, Stacy Elliott (also known as Stacy El-Muhammad), was charged Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Fairfield Area Humane Society and Fairfield County dog warden, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
El-Muhammad is accused of keeping a serval, which is a wild cat from Africa, as a pet. Many of the charges have to do with a failure to notify, register and receive a permit to keep such a pet. El-Muhammad is also charged for lying to authorities about being the pet’s owner.
Authorities learned about the serval because of an Oct. 13 incident when it attacked a neighborhood dog near El-Muhammad’s Violet Township home. A responding deputy from the sheriff’s office shot and killed the animal.
El-Muhammad’s son is in his fourth season with the Cowboys. Several years ago, famous UFC champion Jon Jones bought a serval as a pet, so while uncommon, this is not exactly unheard of.
