Saturday, May 12, 2007
Tanya Dumstrey-Soos, 32 was killed at the Siberian Magic exotic animal park in Bridge Lake British Columbia, Canada after being attacked by a Bengal Tiger named Gangus.
“The animal is part of a collection of exotic and domestic animals. It appears that the animal … reached outside of the cage and grabbed her. Upon arrival police determined that all the animals were in their cages and the woman was found lying on the ground receiving help from family,” said Const. Annie Linteau, a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, [RCMP]. Gangus is one of two Bengal Tigers at the park.
The owner of the park is Kim Carlton, the boyfriend of Dumstrey-Soos. The entire attack was witnessed by the children of Carlton, his 15 year-old daughter and 12 year-old son who both called for help shortly after the attack.
Dumstrey-Soos was standing near the tiger’s cage when he grabbed her legs. According to the mayor of nearby Williams Lake, Scott Nelson, all of the injuries inflicted onto Dumstrey-Soos were at her waist and below. She was taken to a hospital in the town of 100 Mile House, where she was pronounced dead.
Authorities with the B.C. SPCA are not surprised that the attack happened, claiming that they tried to remove the tigers from the park several times.
“This is extremely sad, but not unexpected. We’ve spent thousands of dollars trying to have these animals removed.” said B.C. SPCA spokeswoman, Marcie Moriarty who also said that the animals arrived in 2005. Moriarty also said that the tigers lived in small cages made of chain-linked fencing and that the locks were too small.
The reason that the tigers were not removed from the park is because, according to Moriarty, the SPCA does not have the facilities to hold the tigers until proper housing can be provided for them.
“When we went up there, we realized we weren’t just dealing with animal cruelty, we were dealing with a public safety issue,” added Moriarty.
Dumstrey-Soos worked as a receptionist and saleswoman at the 100 Mile House Advisor newspaper.