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Pet tiger was New Yorker's "only friend"
Reuters ^ | October 7, 2003

Posted on 10/07/2003 7:40:52 PM PDT by Shermy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Battered and bitten and facing seven years in prison, a man who made headlines for keeping a fierce tiger in his New York apartment says he still loves the beast and misses him terribly.

Arraigned on Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court, Antoine Yates, 31, was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and possession of a wild animal, all revolving around Ming, a 400-pound, 20-month-old Siberian-Bengal tiger discovered by authorities on Saturday.

Tipped off by neighbours who complained about the stench of urine flowing from Yates' Harlem apartment, police rappelled down the side of his apartment building and hit the beast through a fifth-floor window with a tranquilliser dart.

Yates, a part-time taxi driver, was arrested on Sunday at a Philadelphia hospital where he was treated for bites from Ming, who attacked him when he tried to protect a kitten from the tiger.

"I still feel heartbroken, torn up. The pain is nothing. It is the pain in my heart that really bothers me. I really do miss him," Yates said after his court appearance.

"He was like my brother, my best friend. He was my only friend, really," Yates said.

Yates's ordeal came as magician Roy Horn of "Siegfried and Roy" fame was in critical condition after being savaged by one of the white Bengal tigers in his Las Vegas show.

Manhattan Criminal Judge Melissa Jackson released Yates on his own recognisance, ordering him back in court on December 18 to learn if he has been indicted.

Yates faces up to seven years in state prison if convicted of the top count of reckless endangerment.

Yates also kept a three-foot alligator-like caiman named Al, which authorities also found in his seven-room apartment. Ming and Al had separate bedrooms.

Ming, who ate 25 chicken thighs a day, was shipped to an animal refuge in Ohio, while Al went to Indiana.

Neighbours said Yates also has housed hyenas, monkeys and snakes in his home. Prosecutors said they were investigating what happened to Yates' other animals.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: alligator; caiman; tiger
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To: Shermy
A pussy with teeth? LOL! A marriage made in heaven..
21 posted on 10/07/2003 8:00:17 PM PDT by a_Turk (But the game never ends when your whole world depends on the turn of a friendly card..)
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To: Mudcat
That's easy...food stamps
22 posted on 10/07/2003 8:05:45 PM PDT by KansasCanadian (The following comment about the French was removed by the Moderator...)
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Comment #23 Removed by Moderator

To: Shermy; ambrose; Sabertooth; Catspaw; Dog; okie01; Utah Girl; swarthyguy; aculeus; a_Turk
America is finally number 1!

Huzzah! Hallelujah! (or however you spell that)! It took years, but we finally beat those fiendishly clever Indians at their own game, surging to the top of the
"Most Tiger Attacks in One Week" charts.
There is sadness tonight in the 7-11s and low-priced motels of America tonight, I tell you.

Our boys have won their stripes at last ...almost getting a unique peek at them from inside the tiger!

24 posted on 10/07/2003 8:06:22 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk
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To: w_over_w
Oh Man! I couldn't stop laughing...

poor guy.
25 posted on 10/07/2003 8:10:57 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: Shermy
Part-time cabbie can afford to feed these beasts in a 3-bedroom flat?
26 posted on 10/07/2003 8:21:40 PM PDT by witnesstothefall
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To: witnesstothefall
Almost all of his cabbie income is unreported cash. Seems he was also selling the previous exotic animals, which if he had fed cheap meat to can make him a handsome profit (or so says the TV news).

27 posted on 10/07/2003 8:29:50 PM PDT by JerseyHighlander ((posting without reading since 3/25/1999))
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To: Shermy
i wonder if we could convince a thousand democrats to get pet tigers that are 425 pounds and keep them caged up in a room all day[preferably with the democrat in the same room]
28 posted on 10/07/2003 8:56:44 PM PDT by fishbabe
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To: Shermy
A good story for today. It reminds me of the ousted California governor who fought like a Bengal tiger.
29 posted on 10/07/2003 11:24:25 PM PDT by doug from upland (Arnold cannot be compared to Clinton.......Clinton is a vicious biting perjuring rapist)
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To: Husker24
Apartments run over a thousand bucks everywhere in New York, and he's feeding the tiger (by itself) 25 chicken thighs A DAY...How the heck was he affording to live and feed ALL of these animals on a part time taxi driving job???
30 posted on 10/07/2003 11:33:52 PM PDT by Wondervixen (Ask for her by name--Accept no substitutes!)
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To: Trailerpark Badass
Post # 12...!!!

You are Soooo Baaad!

Thanks a lot...now my keyboard is swimming in Tea ; )

LOL, LOL, LOL!

I know, I know...You couldn't help Yourself, You are just living Up to Your Freeper Screen Name.

31 posted on 10/07/2003 11:47:48 PM PDT by Simcha7 ((The Plumb - Line has been Drawn, T'shuvah/Return for The Kingdom of HaShem is at hand!))
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To: Shermy
Prosecutors said they were investigating what happened to Yates' other animals.

Have they looked inside the tiger?

32 posted on 10/08/2003 12:04:11 AM PDT by Oztrich Boy ("Conscience is the little voice inside of you that says someone might be watching" HL Mencken)
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To: Kenny Bunk
>>but we finally beat those fiendishly clever Indians at their own game, surging to the top of the
"Most Tiger Attacks in One Week" charts.

Well, now you've done it. The Pakistanis are mad at the tiger attack gap.

And the Arabs are humiliated even further.
33 posted on 10/09/2003 11:50:58 AM PDT by swarthyguy
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Comment #34 Removed by Moderator

To: Husker24

I agree with you. I knew him personally and he had lots of friends and was well liked. He intentionally wouldn’t hurt any animal. The Tiger didn’t attack him. It was a mistake and once the Tiger realized it got him instead of the cat it stopped. If it was really was trying to kill him who could have really stopped it.... No one was there with tranquilizers. Some people need to get a grip.


35 posted on 05/16/2011 8:23:08 PM PDT by Wanda1971
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