Sunday, January 06, 2008

Tiger Update

An update on the Tatiana story. Saturday's SFGate.com carried the story: In ambulance, survivors of S.F. tiger attack made pact of silence

Basically, the story says that a paramedic in the ambulance heard one Daliwal brother tell the other to not tell anyone "what we did." Alcohol and marijuana have been found in the blood of both. The police have the cell phones and car of the brothers, and have not examined them yet since the brothers haven't given permission. A vodka bottle can be seen in the car. It is thought that the cell phones may have pictures and/or records of plans to torment the big cats that they made before they went to the zoo on Christmas.

This article has generated 1171 comments by 8 p.m. on Saturday. There is some anger at the police by readers who believe that the brothers were allowed to take the cell phones and car home with them, explanation by other readers that they are in police custody, and lots of disgust with the brothers.. My guess is that the police are following procedure to obtain a search warrant so that they can examine the phones and car. After the way the federal government has taken to ignoring the need for warrents these last few years, it is good to see that someone has read the Constitution and takes it seriously.
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is my understanding that regardless of the situation that angered the tiger, the zoo will still have liability for not being able to contain the animal.

Tabor

6:38 AM
J said...

I agree with Tabor that the zoo is responsible for keeping dangerous wild animals from mauling idiot teens and their friends. Not that it makes those idiots any less idiotic, not that it means they behaved in any way that was justifiable, but that the zoo is the organization that puts the tiger there, and thus is putting idiots in harm's way. And putting the tiger in harm's way as well, clearly.

Ted's father's advice when he was teaching his kids to drive was, "assume everyone else on the road is a jackass." That advice could be applied to putting dangerous wild animals in close proximity to the public. Assume zoo goers are jackasses, and build enclosures accordingly. And, look at Roy from Siegfried and Roy...he wasn't behaving as a jackass, and still, a tiger is a dangerous friend to have.

I hope other zoos will see this as a warning, and not assume that just because something hasn't happened yet in 78 years doesn't mean it won't. They should all verify that their enclosures are up to current recommendations. I suspect that public campaigns would be willing to fund such measures. I mean, I would chip in a few bucks to make sure the tiger cage were safe, esp. after what happened in San Francisco.

8:28 AM
Rain Trueax said...

I have also been following this story. It added to my irritation when I saw Geragos, who has been bringing a bad name to lawyers for some time now, out there saying the boys did nothing wrong. Like he was there? What will he try to do to destroy the witness who talked about what she saw and how the boy who was killed was not taunting the tiger but seemed apologetic. It was sad he was the one killed but it shows our children a valuable lesson-- be careful of who you hang out with. I am sure the boys and the families will get big bucks which is why Geragos came sniffing around, but they should also be charged with criminal offenses as they cost the zoo an expensive animal and one young man his life. Yes, it should have been safe there, but they had no right to do what they did and I figured right from the start that they had taunted the tiger. Very sad as two innocents died (the tiger certainly was one) and the ones who are left will seek to profit from their misdeeds. It's the kind of thing to make a person's blood pressure rise.

10:20 AM

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