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Cougar owner speaks up
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by tigers9 on November 18, 2008
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Mail this to a friend!
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really good balanced reporting for a change.
Z
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http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI103989/
Local News
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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Cougar owner speaks out after teen is mauled
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• Video: Cougar owner talks about intruders
NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- The owner of a cougar is speaking out after a 16-year-old girl was mauled by his bag cat while he was out of town, and he says he knew the young man he broke into his home with her.
Monday morning, Alan Rigerman demonstrated to camera crews that as long as his pet knows who is there, his pet is safe with human contact. The man walked into the chain linked cage at his Northwest Miami-Dade home and stood next to the big cat, named Chaos, even petting it while talking about how safe the animal is if he does not feel threatened. "My cats have been in my 70-year-old neighbor's home," he said. "The gentleman across the street, before he moved in there, my cats were in the previous owner's house."
On Saturday, Miami-Dade police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported a teenager to the hospital after Chaos attacked her Saturday.
Rescue crews responded to the scene, located at Northwest 179th Street and 84th Avenue after a neighbor heard a girl scream and called 911.
Witnesses said the teenage girl and her boyfriend, Anthony Zitnick, who Rigerman permitted in his home in the past to help with the cats, under his supervision, entered into the house through the backyard. For unknown reasons, she entered an enclosed area where the cat was kept, and it pounced on the girl.
Rigerman said he follows all the rules regulating the ownership of these predatory animals and said Chaos was in his cage when the pair broke into his property.
Richard Morales, Rigerman's next door neighbor, rescued the 16-year-old girl from the cat. "I heard a girl screaming for her life, 'Somebody please help me! I'm dying! I'm dying.' I jumped the fence and got to the back of the house where the girl was literally in the mouth of the cougar."
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported the teenager to Memorial Hospital with lacerations to her head. According to authorities, Zitnick entered Rigerman's property with the girl. Miami-Dade Police arrested him on the scene and charged him with burglary.
According to Rigerman, no one was allowed on his property while he was away. His neighbors knew he was out of town and were instructed to call the police should they witness anyone go into his property. "I don't know about the young lady that got hurt. I have no idea who she is. She did not have my permission to be in the house. Well, it's not the house," Rigerman said. "It is a locked patio, surrounded by walls, chain links and wood. You can never, never fully trust them [animals]. Many people do, I don't."
Doctors expect the young lady to be OK. Here injuries could have been much worse because Chaos happened to be de-clawed.
Authorities are investigating the attack and break-in.
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RE: Cougar owner speaks up
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by Crazywolf on November 21, 2008
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Mail this to a friend!
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whats there to investigate? the two teens were breaking and entering, the cougar was protecting it's domain.
let this be a lesson to the two.
i hope this cougar and its owner dont go through any hardship over this and i really hope this doesnt affect the laws regarding the keeping of these cats.
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