OK, I joked about this earlier...

[grinninfoole]

But I have to say that I was touched to read the magician Siegfried Fishbacher's comments on the tiger that attacked his partner, Roy. It seems the tiger was trying to be a good kittie. This is just what happens when a 400 lb cat misunderstands the situation.

"He told CNN's Larry King: "I just saw that the tiger grabbed him on the sleeve... and Roy said, 'let go', and the tiger let go and Roy bent back and he slipped. "The tiger [grabbed] Roy in the neck and he pulled him back on stage."

He said the tiger, named Montecore, sensed danger when Fischbacher and a trainer rushed to help Horn "so he took Roy and put him backstage behind the curtain... to protect him and then he let Roy go."

Fischbacher said the tiger would not be put down despite the devastating injuries inflicted on his partner.

"It is Roy's wish that no-one hurts him. He will remain part of our family," he said.

"If Montecore had wanted to kill him, he would have shaken his head and it would have all been over.

"The tiger did nothing wrong. He's still part of the family."

(From BBC story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3176986.stm)

Comments

good kitty

[millari.livejournal.com]

I feel like such a dork, but I have to admit that those quotes almost made tears come to my eyes. No wonder the audience wasn't sure if it'd been part of the act or not.

Re: good kitty redux

[millari.livejournal.com]

Wait, now that I think about it some more, what about all that stuff in the first story where he was beating the tiger off with the microphone and trying to pry open its jaws, etc.?

Is it possible that Siegfried's perspective is a bit traumatized and hence unreliable after the fact?

Of course, as a former journalist, I'm well aware of the possibility that in their rush to get the story quickly, the media initially reported inaccurate information....

Re: good kitty

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

Me, too. I really, really like cats, and in a way this incident points up exactly what I like about them: they're only your friend so long as they feel like it. Deep down, they don't really feel like they need you. They just like you, and they'll stick with you. For now. Until they leave. It means that a cat that wants to cuddle with you and protect you genuinely likes you, and doesn't just see you as an essential provider or the center of their social order.

Of course, this means that cats act according to their own lights, which can be bad for us, sometimes....