In an interview with KSBW's Felix Cortez on Wednesday, Sammut said his private ranch, also known as Wild Things, will evolve into Monterey County's first accredited nonprofit zoo before 2014. 

He believes Monterey County is worthy of having its own zoo, especially with the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium's long-established respect among wildlife conservationists and researchers.  Sammut is building the Monterey Zoo himself from the ground up, and he hopes to open its first exhibit by the end of 2013. 

Sammut is a former Seaside police officer.  How does one go from law enforcement to training tigers? 

During a Seaside drug bust operation in 1986, Sammut and his fellow officers raided a house and found a pile of drugs...and a cougar.  While the Seaside Police Department destroyed the illegal narcotics, Sammut decided to adopt the cougar from its owner.  The cougar's owner had been keeping it illegally inside his home's garage. 

"The guy who got arrested had a couple of days to get his affairs in order before he went to jail," Sammut said during an interview with Dina Eastwood. " I thought the cougar was the coolest thing I'd seen in the world, and offered to take him." 

Sammut realized his love for exotic animals, and, 30 years later, he is now a wild-animal expert and trainer whose animals have been used in numerous Hollywood movies and TV commercials.  For his next endeavor, Sammut obtained the permits he needed to become an official zoo. 

"We have the property, we have the animals.  All we have to do is create the atmosphere, and Monterey County will have a real zoo," Sammut said. 

He still has to build an 8-foot fence around his 51-acre property, and Sammut said he plans to go above and beyond state safety laws to ensure the safety of zoo visitors and his surrounding neighbors.