Lions, tigers featured at grand opening

Lions and tigers and goldfish? Oh my.

While it doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Dorothy's line from "The Wizard of Oz," it describes the Dec. 2-12 hoopla at Springfield's newest Pet Warehouse, 1922 E. Independence.

For promotional purposes, Pet Warehouse has become the temporary digs for seven lions and tigers. The endangered animals are displayed inside and outside the store, which is located across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter South.

Caged outside are three African lions and two tigers a Bengal and a Siberian. Inside, customers can get up close and personal with two baby Siberian tigers.

This type of promotion is not as uncommon as the animals involved, according to Pet Warehouse Store Manager Perry Smith.

"They usually bring in something like this," he said of the grand opening. "We'll do things like this again on occasion."

Photos with the animals are also available for a $10 donation to the Ozarks Nature Center's Hug a Tiger program.

"They let somebody hold the tiger and get their picture taken with it," Smith said. "All the money they're taking in goes back to the animals."

The lions and tigers are compliments of Wayne Oxford, a director with the Ozarks Nature Center, who said the donations go to the feeding and care of the cats.

Oxford said Hug a Tiger is part of a larger program that he runs called Endangered Cats of the World. Its purpose is to rescue endangered tigers, while educating the public about them. Oxford breeds Siberian tigers, an endangered species with only an estimated 100 left in the wild. He also said that three separate species of tigers have gone extinct this century and there are only five species left.

Oxford tours the country with his Endangered Cats of the World Show to inform the public of these facts.

"We do an educational and environmental show where we tell people about why they are going extinct and what they can do to help," he said. "We do everything from Washington to Florida and from southern California to Maine. The idea is to get the word out."

He said they perform mostly at state fairs, but when they aren't doing the shows, the animals are brought to stores like Pet Warehouse for the Hug a Tiger promotion.

"Even when we're at the stores we're educating them about the animals," Oxford said.

Oxford plans to show the animals at one of the other four Pet Warehouse stores in Springfield this winter.

There are six Pet Warehouse stores five in Springfield, one in Joplin, and a second Joplin store is on the way, Smith said. Local businessman Karl Keller owns all of the stores.

Smith said that no money was exchanged for the animals to be at his store.

"They do it for the donations and we just provide them the space," he said.

The purpose of bringing the animals in is "to have a good grand opening week and give people the opportunity to learn about tigers," he said.