Phoenix, Ore.– Victoria and Brian McMillan’s lions bathe under the Southern Oregon sun for the last time.
“I’m devastated.I love this place,I love this community,I think it’s just beautiful and I’m very sorry to have to go,” says Victoria.
The McMillans, owners of Walking with Lions in Phoenix have decided that packing up and leaving is what’s best.
“We are going to go back to California, we are bringing the lions back to California,” Victoria explains.
All of this, just days after Jackson County ruled against the operation of their commercial business on the McMillan’sexclusively farm use land. The McMillans moved to Jackson County just over a year ago, bringing along their family.
“They are my children, they are my kids,” she says of the lions.
She and her husbandplanned to retire here and offer paid visits with the lions, a way to make the money necessary to support their aging cats.
“We’ve put everything we have into this place and now we are going to have to go back to work.”
Since the county has ruled against them the McMillan’snext step is to sell their 40 acre land.
“It would be a good place for someone,” McMillan says,”I just wish it was me.”
Just days before they close their gates for good, the McMillans say they will miss the support of their friends, neighbors, and even perfect strangers.
“I’ve lived all around the world and never haveI had a community and some friends like this,” McMillan says, with tears in her eyes.
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