Texas woman charged for illegally selling jaguar cub abandoned in California

A Texas woman was indicted Tuesday for allegedly selling the jaguar cub that was turned over to a California animal shelter last year.

Trisha Denise Meyer, a 40-year-old woman from Houston, was charged in a four-count indictment with  interstate transportation of an endangered species in the course of commercial activity, interstate sale of an endangered species, trafficking prohibited wildlife species, and trafficking endangered species, according to the Department of Justice.

Jaguars are protected under the Endangered Species Act, as well as the Lacey Act, which prohibits wildlife trafficking.

Abdul Rhaman, the 34-year-old man from Riverside County who initially purchased the jaguar cub before trying to resell it, was also charged.

According to the indictment, Meyer initially sold Rhaman the cub in spring 2021 for $30,000 plus a $1,000 transportation fee from Texas to California.

Rhaman owned the jaguar for a couple months before reselling the animal to a married couple, who paid $20,000 for the unusual pet. However, the wife was pregnant and expressed concerns about having a wild animal around a newborn child.

The second buyer and his roommate, identified in court documents at “H.G.” and “R.A.,” caged the cub in a large dog kennel and dropped it off at an animal shelter in Alpine on the morning of Sept. 17, 2021.  

Security cameras captured their operation and the shelter notified law enforcement, according to the DoJ statement.

Meyer has been busted for housing wild animals before. In 2016, she was arrested for child endangerment after police found three tigers, a cougar, a skunk, a fox and multiple monkeys at her home with her 14-year-old daughter, according to The Daily Beast.

She was also accused of keeping tigers and monkeys at another home in Nevada, where officers discovered a 17-year-old watching tigers eating raw meat in the backyard.

The jaguar remains at the animal sanctuary in Alpine.