Tiger man faces charges

2003-10-06 22:19

New York - New York police said on Monday they would be filing criminal charges against a local man who was mauled by a 180kg tiger he kept in his "Garden of Eden" flat - along with an alligator.

"Once he has been properly treated, we will be pressing charges of reckless endangerment," a police spokesperson said.

Antoine Yates, 37, was recovering under police custody in a Philadelphia hospital after being severely bitten by the 20-month-old Siberian tiger that he had kept in his five-bedroom Harlem flat for one and half years.

The tiger, called "Ming" was tranquilised and removed from the flat, together with a one-meter cayman alligator on Saturday in a commando-style police operation.

Speaking to Philadelphia TV station KYW from his hospital bed, Yates said he had been trying to build his own animal sanctuary.

"I do love my cat, you know. It's not that I got him there for any prize, or for breeding, or making money. This is my love," Yates said.

"This is my calling in life. I'm trying to create a Garden of Eden. Something this world lacks."

An animal paradise

Yates had decided to start his own animal paradise, which he called "Paws and Claws" after being turned down for a job with the Bronx Zoo.

It was a costly enterprise, with Ming wolfing down raw chicken, beef ribs and liver every day.

"As a matter of fact my cat is going to fret more than anything now, because I'm his mother, you know what I mean?" Yates told KYW.

According to Yates, the mauling occurred after he brought home a stray housecat, which Ming charged at before turning on his keeper.

"He tore open my whole leg down to the bone. He didn't realise what he was doing, so I was like 'Ming, Ming. No, no'."

Yates initially checked into a nearby hospital where he tried to blame his wounds on a pit bull terrier attack. When it became clear that doctors were suspicious, he checked himself out and fled to Philadelphia.

Tipped off by the hospital and reports of a wild animal in the Harlem flat building, police tracked Yates down and went after the tiger and alligator.

After monitoring the tiger with a camera, an animal control officer abseiled down the outside of the building with a tranquilizer gun and shot Ming through a window.

Seeing eye to eye with the tiger

"I saw him eye to eye, to say the least," said Emergency Service Unit cop Martin Duffy. "He charged twice and I shot him. He charged a last time and broke through the glass."

Ming was transported to a wildlife preserve in Ohio state. The alligator went to a sanctuary in Indiana.

A second tiger, some cubs, two Rottweilers, rabbits and a tarantula also lived in the flat, until some family members, including children, moved to Philadelphia in June, taking the animals with them, neighbours said.

The menagerie had been an open secret in the housing complex but animal control officers had not responded to resident's complaints.

Caroline Domingo, who had rented a room in Yates' flat, said she had been stunned when she first encountered Ming.

"I walked in the door and (the tiger) was standing there looking at me," said Domingo, 49.

"I said, 'I know I'm not seeing this. I know that wasn't a tiger.' He turned around and looked at me like I was a damn fool," she said.

But eventually, she said, "We all became family."

- AFP