Okla. woman, pet kangaroo, moving out in ongoing feud with Broken Arrow officials

By: Barry Leibowitz
Topics: Daily Blotter

Irwin, the pet kangaroo in the middle of a controversy in Broken Arrow, Okla.

(Credit: KOTV)

(CBS/AP) TULSA, Okla. - When we last caught up with Irwin the pet kangaroo, his owner, a woman from Broken Arrow, Okla., had been granted a city council exemption that allowed her to keep Irwin under certain conditions.

Now the case is - forgive me- bouncing back into the news, with exotic pet owner Christie Karr - forgive me again - all hopped up and moving out of town.

According to CBS affiliate KOTV, in 2011 city officials revised an ordinance, and allowed Carr to keep the kangaroo as a "therapy pet" provided she meet several conditions: get a permit, purchase a $50,000 insurance policy for any injuries inflicted by the animal, and certify the marsupial has adequate housing for its health and to meet all federal and state guidelines for licensing.

In April 2011, an anonymous donor paid the liability insurance for Irwin.

Karr, who's been diagnosed as clinically depressed, says she and her pet kangaroo are moving to live with her parents in McAlester because city workers told her they would take the animal or fine her. But Broken Arrow officials say no threats were made to seize Irwin, and that Carr has simply not filed the necessary paperwork as required by the ordinance.

"If she did not fill out the paperwork, we are going to have to take Irwin away from her," said Broken Arrow spokesperson Stephanie Higgins. "I do not see the city council denying this application," Higgins added.

Carr told KOTV she doesn't trust the city. She'll fill out the forms, she says, but until the process is completed, she and Irwin are leaving town.

As a not so incidental footnote, Irwin has had problems of his own. The kangaroo fractured his neck when he ran into a fence, and that's when Carr initially took him home and nursed him back to health.

Komplete kangaroo koverage on Krimesider
May 5, 2011 - Kangaroo can stay with disabled woman, Okla. officials decide
April 1, 2011 - Okla. woman wants to keep disabled kangaroo as therapy pet

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