FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT

SANDSTONE - After 28 hours and 800 miles on the road, this trailor has a few more feet to go before a white tiger will arrive at her permanent home in Sandstone.
"This is huge this is just the first of a lot of animals that are going to need homes," Wildcat Sanctuary Director Tammy Thies said.
It was a scary time for Nikita the tiger when she first sets her sights on the new landscape.
"Nikitia is a very traumatized tiger shes very fearful of people," Thies said.
Nikita made the journey with a couger named Tasha; both had different, traumatizing pasts, but most recenetly lived with someone attempting to care for them at their home in Ohio.
"We just removed her from a 10 by 15 [foot] cage," Thies said.
Their Ohio owner gave the animals up, saying she could not comply with new, pending legislation.
The legislation comes just months after the release of dozens in Zanesville, Ohio last year, and would make owning exotic animals much tougher.
"Our motto to people is to keep the wild in your heart not in your home; big cats do not belong as pets," Thies said.
FOX 21 cameras were not able to capture Nikitia in her new home on Tuesday.
Keepers said she was showing signs of stress pacing back and forth and cameras and humans would only make that situation worse, but they do say that within time they expect her to like her new home.
"They've never been in that space," Campbell said.
"New smells; all that is so foreign to them, often even running is a new concept to them.
"But soon, workers said the two newest rescues at the sanctuary will adjust just like the others have.
Workers were sad to hear their stories, but happy to shed light on a serious issue.
"It's positive for the cats it's positive for our sanctuary and animals as a whole," Thies said.
And with tougher laws cracking down, people at the sanctuary expect Tasha and Nikita to be the first of several looking for new homes.
Minnesota passed a law making private ownership of exotic animals much tougher in 2004.
To see that law, or to make a donation to the Wildcat Sanctuary, visit the "featured links" tab.