Kathy Stearns, the heiress to Stearn's Peal & Soil in Dade City, mortgaged her homes, business and backyard menagerie to the tune of half a million dollars. A sheriff's sale was scheduled in April 2008 for the repossession of her truck and on July 16, 2006 her default on the mortgage lead to a foreclosure sale of the property where a number of big cats and primates are housed. As a last ditch effort to stall the foreclosure Stearns filed for bankruptcy protection. The foreclosure case number in Pasco County is 07-CA-1843 and the properties being auctioned are at 36923 Blanton and 36909 Blanton Av. and 37237 Meridian Av. in Dade City, FL. It only takes 30-60 days to lift the banckruptcy stay, so watch for this case number to come back up for foreclosure auction soon.

Kathy Stearns was the replacement for Gloria Johnson that the Florida Wildlife Commission chose as their expert on exotic animal care. It is obvious from the sad situation that both of these women got themselves into that they cannot even run their own lives or properly care for their own animals, much less advise the state of Florida in the best methods to do so.