Not sure what this fella is so bent out of shape about. He paid $150 for a “full contact experience” with a black leopard, and he would be the first one in line to tell you that he got one.
The attack happened at a backyard animal sanctuary in Davie, Fla., on Aug. 31, according to a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
Dwight Turner, 50, paid $150 for a “full contact experience” with the black leopard, and expected to “play with it, rub its belly and take pictures,” local station WPLG reports.“The owner of the facility brought the victim into the leopard cage,” said the victim’s attorney, Steve Lander. “About three seconds after entering the cage, the leopard attacked, going for the jugular and took his head in its mouth.”
The animal ripped off part of the victim’s scalp and tore his ear in half, officials said. Turner says he spent a week in hospital and required multiple surgeries to recover from injuries sustained in the attack.
As you’ve likely guessed based on the words “victim’s attorney,” somebody is about to have a full contact experience with the legal system. That somebody is Michael Poggi, who promotes himself on Facebook as an “exotic animal breeder” and owner of a “private animal sanctuary” featuring such attractions as black leopard Dasha, the “resident carnivore.” But according to Turner, Poggi is the owner of neither insurance nor a permit allowing him to offer the kinds of visits that put him in his current situation. In light of that, Turner says that he’s due compensation regardless of whether or not he signed a safety waiver.
I’m no lawyer, but that sounds reasonable to me. NO telling how the courts will feel about it, though. Sometimes even the most obvious, slam dunk things just sail right on by those people.
But even if he somehow manages to skate on the suit, Poggi is still in trouble with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It has charged him with allowing full contact with an extremely dangerous animal and cited him for maintaining captive wildlife in an unsafe condition.
No idea how any of this bodes for the reality show he’s trying to pitch, but probably well would be my guess. The world is kind of fucked like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEH88fxxkrM
