PITTSBURGH -- A battle over custody of the city's most famous feline is brewing.

Pennsylvania Game Commission officials seized Mr. Bigglesworth, an African serval cat, earlier this week. The cat's owner, Mark Nernberg, apparently did not have the proper permit to keep the exotic animal in his Point Breeze home.

Nernberg, who has been fined $300 for not having a permit, says the seizure is an emotional loss because he raised Mr. Bigglesworth from the age of 10 days. He said he will fight to have the cat returned.

Game officials say a veterinarian will care for Mr. Bigglesworth until Nernberg can attend a permit hearing.

Mr. Bigglesworth weighs about 40 pounds and looks like a small tiger. He gained local notoriety earlier this year when Nernberg asked the public for help finding him after a pair of escapes.

In one famous escapade, the cat shook off the effects of a tranquilizer dart and led Nernberg, a police officer and other search party members on a romp through Homewood Cemetery.
Click here to watch video of that failed capture attempt.

After trapping the cat near Nine Mile Run last month, Nernberg said it obviously didn't like being indoors and promised to offer it to an animal sanctuary.