Police are searching for a self-described “exotic erotic zookeeper” who allegedly sold a baby jaguar for $30,000 on the sidelines of a Houston car show in 2021, and then drove it across state lines. Several potential buyers looked at the animal at a hotel near the show, including one who later told police the cub “appeared to become very sick and started ‘splatter pooping’ everywhere.”
Trisha “Mimi” Denise Meyer, 40, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday, a week after The Daily Beast first reported on her case. She is currently at large, according to local media reports.
Police did arrest the 34-year-old buyer, Abdul “Manny” Rahman, who said Meyer gave him a $5,000 discount due to a dispute over a marmoset he bought from Meyer. According to the complaint published on Law & Crime, the monkey was “crazy” and Rahman eventually abandoned it. “The marmoset was so difficult to care for that they looked for an exotic animal dealer in Las Vegas and ultimately found a pet shop that sold other marmosets,” the complaint states. “They asked the owner to temporarily take care of the marmoset for them and then they never went back, effectively abandoning the marmoset in Las Vegas.”
Both Rahman and Meyer are charged with interstate transportation of an endangered species in the course of commercial activity, trafficking prohibited wildlife species and trafficking endangered species, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
Rahman kept the cub for less than two months before selling it to a man identified in court documents as H.G. for $20,000, who was also arrested but eventually cooperated with authorities.
Court documents say that H.G. wanted to get rid of the animal after his pregnant partner gave birth and friends grew concerned the growing jaguar might pose a danger to the baby. The arrest document says that H.G. intended to kill the endangered animal, but was convinced by a friend to take it to the Lions and Tigers and Bears animal shelter in San Diego county, where the jaguar remains.
When police were notified about the abandoned endangered species, a detective set about trying to trace the original seller after a worker at the shelter said she had previously seen the jaguar on Instagram posts popular with exotic animal collectors.
The special agent then traced the Instagram accounts to a man who rented the house to H.G., who had posted “numerous photographs and videos of the live jaguar being held and played with by H.G. over many months and consecutive days” on Instagram, according to the complaint. The agent then cross-referenced the photos with real estate advertisements for properties owned by the man who posted the photos, and was able to conclude with the help of a specialist at the San Diego zoo that the abandoned jaguar was the same one in the social media posts, which led to the grand jury indictment.
Testimony from H.G. led the agent to Rahman and Meyer and the car show in Houston where Meyer made the original deal with Rahman. Several witnesses told the agent that they had seen her peddling the tiny jaguar cub.
Meyer faces up to eight years in federal prison and a $700,000 fine. Rahman faces seven years in prison and a $600,000 fine if convicted. They are scheduled to appear in court November 9.