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PETS 19
www.MountPleasant.pet | www.MPVets.pet | www.MTPleasant.petE X O T I C
As far as Savannahs go, Zara is the only one in the
Charleston region. You might have to go as far as Florence
or Lancaster to find another. It is arresting to see her, look-
ing like a mixture between a minicheetah and a lynx, on
the windshield of a white Prius parked in Mount Pleasant.
As an F1 back-cross, Zara is more than 75-percent serval –
about as close as you can legally get to a wild African cat.
“She’s been checked out by all the animal controls,” said
Garritano. “If you called them right now, they’d be like,
‘Yeah, that’s just Zara.’”
She is more curious than vicious, and, while Garritano
doesn’t recommend Savannahs as a pet for most people,
Zara seems mostly harmless. Besides jumping on Porsches
or nipping at one of the chickens Garritano keeps on his
expansive property, Zara seems happy to sunbathe silently
on patios while Garritano sips sweet tea.
“I call and ask if places are pet friendly,” he said. “They
say yeah and then I show up with her, and they’re like,
‘Oh! Do you want a dog bowl?’”
This cat is not unlike a dog, filling the role of both
companion and prized possession. Zara is house-trained;
she sticks her head out the window of Garritano’s truck;
she eats raw chicken thighs (bone-in) or canned food he
buys online for “less than Friskies at Wal-Mart;” and she
cuddles on the couch.
“I don’t let her off the leash because she’ll see something
and run, and then I’ve got to run and I hate running,”
Garritano laughed.
It’s rare to see one of them without the other, though
who’s leading who is unclear.