 In 1998, Mark Kostich, a CPT volunteer, was mauled by a cougar while cleaning cages and he later sued CPT.In Kostich's lawsuit, 
Sherry Blanchette was called as an expert witness on cougar behavior.The North Carolina legislature considered an unsuccessful bill in 2004 which would make it illegal for individuals and over thirty other nonprofit zoological entities to own many of the animals housed at the Carolina Tiger Rescue.