Seven 'emotional support' tigers seized from Nevada man who said some came from Joe Exotic

A Nevada man has been arrested after officials seized seven tigers that he says served as his emotional support animals.

Animal welfare workers recovered the tigers in cages at the Pahrump home of longtime big cat handler Karl Mitchell on Wednesday, according to the Nye County Sheriff's Office. Pahrump is just outside Death Valley National Park.

Mitchell, 71, claimed he had obtained six of seven the large cats from incarcerated zookeeper Joseph Allen Maldonado, better known as Joe Exotic from the Netflix docuseries "The Tiger King," local station KSNV-TV reported.

Mitchell was arrested on charges of resisting arrest and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was later released from county jail Wednesday evening, the sheriff's office confirmed Friday.

USA TODAY was working to determine whether Mitchell has an attorney for comment.

Mitchell feared tigers would be euthanized, officials say

Mitchell was initially detained in handcuffs but then released because he cooperated during the seizure, sheriff's deputies said. He became emotional, they said, soon after getting the impression the tigers would be euthanized.

Officers gave Mitchell a "reasonable amount of time" before directing him to enter a SWAT vehicle and then using physical force, the sheriff's office said.

"I can walk myself, you don't need to grab me," Mitchell told sheriff deputies while tensing his arm and tried to break the hold, the sheriff's office said.

Mitchell expressed concern for his health though the sheriff's office said he did not appear to be suffering from any medical issues and declined their offer to get his medication from the house. After refusing to move toward the vehicle, deputies say they used physical force, though they did not specify what that entailed.

Deputies then conducted a search warrant and found a handgun in a bedroom. The sheriff's office said Mitchell is not allowed to have a gun because he is felon but did not clarify what he's been convicted of.

Joe Exotic denies giving Mitchell any tigers

Joe Exotic denied giving anyone tigers in an an voice message recorded from a federal prison in Texas and posted on X.

"You need to quit slandering me on television before you do your research ... None of these tigers came from me," he said. "Until you want a real story leave my name out of it."

The 62-year-old Kansas native is currently serving a 21-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2019, he was convicted of 19 counts of wildlife crimes and two counts relating to a murder-for-hire case of rival zoo operator Carole Baskin.

Where are Mitchell's tigers?

Animal welfare workers took Mitchell's seven tigers to an undisclosed sanctuary, where they will remain awaiting a court decision.

The sheriff's office said a veterinarian was on site during the seizure.

Mitchell's past issues with animal permit

The Nye County Commission approved a special animal permit for Mitchell in 2019, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. It's not immediately clear what the permit entailed and whether it expired since 2019.

Under the permit, Mitchell was not allowed to exhibit the big cats and had to notify animal control before transporting them, and then only for medical reasons.

In 2010, Mitchell was ordered to pay more than $68,000 in civil penalties for continued violations, including exhibiting tigers without a license and refusing to allow inspections.

Mitchell has said he is disabled and lives with PTSD, and that a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist prescribed the tigers as emotional support animals. A letter from the VA was included in public documents submitted to Nye County commissioners during a 2019 hearing to get his permit.

During the hearing, officials noted the tigers had come from Oklahoma.

Joe Exotic’s roadside zoo, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, operated in Oklahoma until it was shut down following federal investigations.

Contributing: Jeffrey Meehan, Reno Gazette Journal