Tiger was taunted by drunks

[Guest guest]

Personally, I think the family should be sued for the cost of refitting the tiger cage and the cost of acquiring a new tiger. Let's not forget also the cost of security cameras and more guards. If the family can't pay, I'm sure they won't mind having their assets seized and wages garnished for the rest of their lives.

Mauling Victim Taunted Tiger, Police Say

AP

Posted: 2008-01-18 10:42:25

Filed Under: Nation News

SAN FRANCISCO (Jan. 18) - One of the three victims of San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was intoxicated and admitted to yelling and waving at the animal while standing atop the railing of the big cat enclosure, police said in court documents filed Thursday.

Police say tiger mauling victim Dhaliwal, seen leaving the Jan. 8 funeral of a friend who died in the attack, was drunk and had yelled at the Siberian tiger before the mauling. The animal escaped from its enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas Day.

Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger but insisted they never threw anything into its pen to provoke the cat, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle."As a result of this investigation, (police believe) that the tiger may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims," according to Inspector s, who prepared the affidavit. Police believe that "this factor contributed to the tiger escaping from its enclosure and attacking its victims," she said.Sousa's father, Sousa Sr., said Dhaliwal told him the three stood on a 3-foot-tall metal railing a few feet from the edge of the tiger moat. "When they got down they heard a noise in the bushes, and the tiger was jumping out of the bushes on him ( Dhaliwal)," the documents said.Police found a partial shoe print that matched Dhaliwal's on top of the railing, s said in the documents.The papers said Dhaliwal told Sousa that no one was dangling his legs over the enclosure. Authorities believe the tiger leaped or climbed out of the enclosure, which had a wall 4 feet shorter than the recommended minimum.The affidavit also cites multiple reports of a group of young men taunting animals at the zoo, the Chronicle reported.Mark Geragos, an attorney for the Dhaliwal brothers, did not immediately return a call late Thursday by The Associated Press for comment. He has repeatedly said they did not taunt the tiger.Calls to Sousa and Cardoza, an attorney for the Sousa family, also weren't returned.Toxicology results for Dhaliwal showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.16 - twice the legal limit for driving, according to the affidavit. His 24-year-old brother, Kulbir, and Sousa also had alcohol in their blood but within the legal limit, s wrote.All three also had marijuana in their systems, s said. Kulbir Dhaliwal told police that the three had smoked pot and each had "a couple shots of vodka" before leaving San for the zoo on Christmas Day, the affidavit said.Police found a small amount of marijuana in Kulbir Dhaliwal's 2002 BMW, which the victims rode to the zoo, as well as a partially filled bottle of vodka, according to court documents.Investigators also recovered messages and images from the cell phones, but apparently nothing incriminating in connection with the tiger attack, the Chronicle reported.Zoo spokesman Sam Singer said he had not seen the documents but believed the victims did taunt the animal, even though they claim they hadn't."Those brothers painted a completely different picture to the public and the press," Singer said. "Now it's starting to come out that what they said is not true."

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2008-01-18 07:17:57Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

[Guest guest]

Of course they will defend themselves. And they will say " Yeah, the

tiger was taunted, but even so, it would not have killed amyone if it

could not get out of its cage. "

Tom

Administrator

Personally, I think the family should be sued for the cost of refitting

the tiger cage and the cost of acquiring a new tiger. Let's not forget

also the cost of security cameras and more guards. If the family can't

pay, I'm sure they won't mind having their assets seized and wages

garnished for the rest of their lives.

" Mauling Victim Taunted Tiger, Police Say "