Excerpts:
First Cause of Action:There ya go....to protect the public and keepers, mesh wire should have been placed around the openings, and bars beneath gaps. We'll see how the Zoo responds to this in its answer....GN-2. On 12-22-06, at about 2:20 p.m., during a public feeding, plaintiff, an animal keeper for the San Francisco Zoological Society, was severely mauled by a caged 3 1/2 yr. old Siberian tiger.
GN-3. The injury occurred as plaintiff attempted to remove a piece of meat that fell into a drain trough outside the cage. As plaintiff reached for the meat, the tiger reached under the bars of the cage and grabbed plaintiff's right arm. The tiger then grabbed plaintiff's left arm, put her right arm in its mouth and pulled plaintiff's arms through and into the cage causing severe physical and emotional injuries.
GN-4. Defendants, and each of them, acted willfully and recklessly in failing to place safeguards on the cages through which the animals were able to reach and defendants were aware of the dangerous condition of the cage and the potential hazard and increased risk of injury in the "hazard zone" to plaintiff and members of the general public.
GN-5. Plaintiff further alleges that defendants acted willfully and recklessly by erecting, installing, placing, maintaining and retaining the cage housing the tigers with reckless disregard for the safety of animal handlers and members of the general public.
GN-6. Plaintiff further alleges that defendants, and each of them, acted negligently and recklessly by failing to (a) erect a steel barrier to close the gap under the cage and (b) by failing to install strong wire mesh covers over the openings in the cage.
GN-7. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health, State of California (OSHA), conducted an investigation following the 12-22-06 incident and found that the Lion House, built by the City and County of San Francisco in about 1940, contained a defective cage because the large cats housed in said cages could reach under and through the bars, thus creating a potential hazard zone for animal handlers and an increased risk of injury.
“There ya go....to protect the public and keepers, mesh wire should have been placed around the openings, and bars beneath gaps.”
agreed.
But now I have one more question....would you have reached down to pick up that piece of meat?
I think I would have waited until the tiger were much - much further away from that side of the cage.
But that’s just me I guess.