400 Pound Bengal Tiger Mauls Boy to Death
tinydancer
MILLERS CREEK, N.C. (AP) - A woman's 400-pound Bengal tiger fatally
mauled her 10-year-old nephew after pulling him under a fence and into his
cage, authorities said.
The boy, Clayton James Eller, was shoveling snow Sunday afternoon near
the tiger's cage, an enclosure made of chain link fence that had an opening
at the bottom so the family's dog could go in and play, officials said.
``This little boy got too close, and it pulled him under the fence,''
Coroner Howard Laney said.
The boy's uncle, James Marshall Eller, heard Clayton scream and saw it
dragging the boy into its cage. Sheriff Dane Mastin said Eller tried in vain
to to get the tiger off the boy, then ran and got his gun and shot the tiger
to death. But it was too late to save the boy.
The boy's mother, Angela Eller, had left the boy in the care of her
sister Ruth Bynum, the tiger's owner, while she went to work, Mastin said.
James Eller is the brother of the two women.
Mastin said he wasn't aware of any previous complaints about the
tiger.
tinydancer
POSTED: 7:42 AM EST December 15, 2003
UPDATED: 9:52 AM EST December 15, 2003
MILLERS CREEK, N.C. -- A 10-year-old Wilkes County boy shoveling snow was
killed Sunday when a 400-pound Bengal tiger dragged the child into its cage,
authorities said.
The boy's uncle shot and killed the tiger after it attacked Clayton James
Eller, who was pronounced dead at 2 p.m. at Wilkes Regional Medical Center,
said Wilkes County Coroner Howard Laney.
The boy died of wounds to the head, neck and chest, Laney said.
The mauling happened shortly after 1 p.m., said Wilkes County Sheriff Dane
Mastin. Clayton had been using a shovel to push snow off the apron of a
swimming pool near the tiger's cage, Mastin said.
The boy's uncle, James Marshall Eller, was working on a car nearby when he
heard Clayton scream. He saw the tiger dragging Clayton into its cage.
"(Eller) tried to get the tiger off the boy, and it wouldn't turn him loose
and he ran and got his gun out of the house and shot the tiger twice,"
Mastin said.
Laney said there was a loose place under the fence.
"They had him in this cage and there was a loose place in the fence where
the dog went in and out and played with the tiger," Laney said. "This little
boy got too close, and it pulled him under the fence."
Laney said he couldn't tell in the first examination if the wounds were from
teeth or claws.
Mastin said that Ruth Bynum of the Millers Creek community owned the tiger.
He identified her as the sister of Clayton's mother, Angela Eller.
The sheriff said Angela Eller was at work Sunday afternoon, Mastin said, and
Clayton was in the care of his aunt and uncle.
Mastin said he wasn't aware of any previous complaints about the tiger or
any previous law-enforcement calls about it.
Wilkes County animal-control officials asked the family to keep the tiger's
body until state officials could advise them what to do with it.
The Web site www.encyclopedia.com says Bengal tigers are large carnivores of
the cat family and found in the forests of Asia.
http://www.nbc17.com/news/2705162/detail.html
Cate
news:UIqDb.861$3B2...@bignews1.bellsouth.net...
> The Web site www.encyclopedia.com says Bengal tigers are large carnivores
of
> the cat family and found in the forests of Asia.
Pardon me, but why in the FUCK do people keep Bengal tigers as pets? This
kind of thing would make for a great Far Side cartoon if it weren't so
predictable.
Cate
PattyC
"Cate" <orson148...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:brlgvr$4mb2p$1...@ID-137534.news.uni-berlin.de...
No kidding. How dumb do people need to be to allow such absurdity? I am
guessing people actually don't get that tigers are ferocious...
Geez.
PattyC
Sped
wrote:
> Pardon me, but why in the FUCK do people keep Bengal tigers as pets? This
> kind of thing would make for a great Far Side cartoon if it weren't so
> predictable.
One thing I can think of that is stupider than keeping a 400 lb. tiger as a
pet is letting someone with a pet 400 lb. tiger babysit their kid. Darwin
awards all around. Sad about the boy, though.
Messalina
I think the dog set him up.
Mez