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.
