Cat Tales Zoological Park was started by married couple Mike and Debbie Wyche in backyard of their
Colbert, Washington, home when they decided to convert it as a zoo for their four big cats. It opened weekend public tours in November of that year and became a popular field trip destination for
Mead School District students and some patrons of the then-declining
Walk in the Wild zoo. However the fact that they were located near a residential area became a point of contention in the local community and a proposal was drafted to regulate exotic animal ownership. In early 2004, Cat Tales was sued by a South Korean actress over a 2003 incident. The lawsuit claimed that the actress had been bitten and scratched by one of the zoo's tigers, Zeus, and that the zoo had been negligent. The zoo responded by saying that the actress had signed a waiver, provoked the tiger, and was exaggerating the extent of her injuries; the lawsuit was withdrawn without prejudice in November of that year and the actress ordered to pay the zoo's attorney fees. In 2018, the Wyches announced they might retire; the following year, Mike Wyche died on August 22 and Debbie Wyche said she would ""like to see [the zoo] go another thirty years". == Organization ==