LILLE, Sept 5 \u2014 A French couple kept Louise, a playful black panther, in an apartment in northern France, triggering panic when she was spotted roaming nearby rooftops.<\/p>\n
The pair were handed suspended jail sentences on Thursday for illegally keeping a wild animal, despite protesting that they saw Louise as their baby.<\/p>\n
The ruling follows a September 2019 incident when the months-old feline was seen roaming a rooftop in Armentieres after slipping out of the couple\u2019s window.<\/p>\n
Authorities recaptured the panther, which weighed between 25 to 30 kilogrammes (66 pounds) by sedating her with anaesthetic darts after she entered a home.<\/p>\n
No injuries were reported during the animal\u2019s time on the loose.<\/p>\n
The court in the northern city of Lille condemned the 41-year-old man in the couple to 18 months in jail, which was suspended, and a 10,000 euro (RM49,254) fine.<\/p>\n
He was also barred from keeping animals for five years.<\/p>\n
The woman, also 41, received a four-month suspended sentence and a two-year animal possession ban.<\/p>\n
Keeping Louise was \u201ctantamount to species trafficking\u201d, argued Graziella Dode, a lawyer for an animal rights group that joined the case as a civil party.<\/p>\n
Xavier Bacquet, representing another foundation, called the crime mistreatment, arguing that the animal\u2019s \u201cphysiological needs\u201d could not be met in captivity.<\/p>\n
The owner told French daily La Voix du Nord in 2019 that he no longer saw it as a panther.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was like a big, affectionate baby who just wanted to be cuddled,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He told the court that he\u2019d bought the animal for 2,500 euros from a travelling community.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors told the court he\u2019d already been convicted in other cases for theft, violence, and drug dealing, as well for illegally keeping a pet monkey.<\/p>\n
After its recapture, the panther was taken to the Maubeuge Zoo, from where it was briefly stolen a few days later.<\/p>\n
The feline, renamed Akilla, now lives at the Stichting Leeuw big cat sanctuary in the Netherlands, where one of its caretakers Wendy Karsten said it is doing well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has a lot of fun, is playful and interacts well with the neighbouring panther through the fence,\u201d Karsten told AFP. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n
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