Why would anyone pay for the opportunity to get up close and personal with an apex predator like a leopard? This is pure stupidity on the part of the customer and the “sanctuary” owner.
A Florida man paid for a “full contact” experience with a black leopard – and ended up severely injured, according to reports.
The animal kept in a backyard zoo in Davie, Fla., reportedly attacked the visitor the moment he entered an enclosure, the Sun-Sentinel of South Florida reported.
The customer, identified as Dwight Turner, 50, had paid $150 for a close-up encounter with the animal, to “play with it, rub its belly and take pictures,” according to Miami’s WPLG-TV.
After the big cat finished with him, Turner’s scalp was “hanging from his head and his right ear was torn in half,” investigators said, according to FOX 30 of Jacksonville.
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The Davie sanctuary owner, identified as Michael Poggi, was licensed to run the attraction, WPLG reported. Authorities said he was charged with allowing full contact with an extremely dangerous animal and maintaining captive wildlife in an unsafe condition, the report said.