PETA also provided ads placed by Miller in the publication Animal Finders' Guide in 2005: "Free! Looking for good home for cougar, black leopard, black bear, two white tigers and Siberian tiger."
Wathne said the ad demonstrated a lack of concern by Miller for animals deemed no longer useful to him.
Miller did not respond to requests for comment, but Almquist, a longtime friend, said the USDA infractions were minor and did not reflect a pattern of neglect. The animals being given away no longer worked, he said, and were eventually placed in a wildlife sanctuary outside Los Angeles.
"Zoos get hundreds of write-ups each year. Sometimes they deserve it; sometimes they don't," said Almquist, who runs Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary in Phelan, near Victorville.
Stephan Miller had worked at least 20 years with Randy Miller, he said.
"He was a great guy who loved his wife and kids," Almquist said. "He raised half the animals up there. We all take an inherent risk when we train animals, and we can't forget that these are wild animals."
Officials from San Bernardino County's office of preventive veterinary services inspected the facility Wednesday to make sure there was no risk of escape. The state Department of Fish and Game also sent investigators to the site.
If Rocky survives, the odds of his working again in movies are slim.
"This does not sound like an aggressive attack. It sounds like it happened in the course of playing," said Karen Rosa, director of the American Humane Assn.'s film and television unit, which oversees the care of animals on movie and television sets. "But we would probably not be comfortable working with Rocky on the set. It would be a liability issue."
--
david.kelly@latimes.com
---
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
