If a woman sticks her hand in a lion cage and gets bit, should she be able to sue the zoo where the incident happened? Apparently, one Michigan woman had this happen to her — and she is filing a lawsuit . According to The Christian Post , Renae Ferguson claims that Sunrise Side Nature Trail and Exotic Park didn’t stop her from sticking her hand in the cage. She says she went to “pet” the lion… and it bit her.
“I put my hand down there to pet it and it ripped my finger. I was in total shock. I really didn’t believe that was part of my finger laying on the ground.”
When zoo owners found out what had happened to the woman, she says that she was told not to tell anyone.
“They just told me not to tell. They told me to lie.”
The woman who stuck her hand in the lion cage evidently thought that it was okay to touch the lions. Despite most people having the common sense not to do something like this, Ferguson took a chance. The zoo has since responded to the woman’s story, and they have their own opinion about what happened.
“The lady went into the security area and was told by the guide to get back and the lady stated she wanted to touch the lion and continued, against the guide’s warning, to put her finger inside the fence and the lion nipped the end of her finger.”
The woman and her daughter (who was also at the zoo when the incident occurred) are still pushing forward with legal action. They say that they want the zoo to take more precautions to keep other people safe. It’s unknown if they are seeking any money from the zoo.
According to The Daily Caller , the woman’s middle finger was partially ripped off by the lion. Of course, that’s not surprising, and the woman should be thankful that her injuries weren’t more serious.
Any woman who sticks her hand in a lion cage and doesn’t expect to get bit might need to reevaluate. Wild animal attacks aren’t uncommon, and even though the lion was in a cage, the woman should have known better. Even pets turn on people sometimes, proving that animals can do things unexpectedly — as previously reported by The Inquisitr , two Cane Corso dogs recently attacked a jogger. He died at the hospital after the incident.
[Photo courtesy of YouTube]