Trespassing Man Charged By Ohio Zoo After He Jumped a Fence to Pet Cougars

Ben Graham | July 27, 2015
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Ohio native Josh Newell, 35, has been charged with criminal trespassing at the Columbus Zoo after he hopped over a fence to pet a couple of elderly cougars. Zoo officials pressed charges after Newell's video of the encounter was posted on YouTube. 

Why did he pet the cougars, you might ask? Because they looked lonely and in need of some affection!

”I was thinking, 'I’m an animal lover.' The cats were looking like they wanted some love and just jumped over and petted them,” said Newell.

However, he does express some remorse, saying, “That was a very bad decision. If I had to do it over I definitely would have stayed within the barrier boundaries.”

Zoo officials stated the cougars are geriatric and very used to being around people, but the officials stand firm in the fact that the barriers are maintained so as to keep both animals and patrons safe.

Newell said that he wouldn’t have wanted any harm to come to the animals had they bitten him. He states that if he had left the zoo with a few less fingers, he’d have no one to blame but himself.

Newell is due in court Wednesday and, though he knows he’ll be fined, he hopes the zoo won’t ban him from visiting in the future.

“I’ve thought about reaching out to them to do some volunteer work or donations, anything I can do to help them out,” he said.

You can see the original video below:

 

 

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