Guest guest Posted October 7, 2003 Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by afa. Good opportunity for some Letters to the Editor. Eric Mills, coordinator, ACTION FOR ANIMALS afa /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Explore more of Starbucks at Starbucks.com. http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?ci=1015 \-------------------------/ Tiger, Tiger October 7, 2003 In lifestyle, Antoine Yates lived about as far from Roy Horn as is possible. Except for the tiger. Mr. Yates is the man who, until Saturday, kept a tiger named Ming, who weighs more than 400 pounds, in an apartment at the Drew Hamilton Houses in Harlem. Ming was removed by the police after he bit his owner, who failed in his attempt to pass off his injuries as the work of a pit bull. Mr. Yates was lucky. Roy Horn, who is half of the Las Vegas illusionist team of Siegfried & Roy, was attacked during his act on Friday night by one of the team's white tigers and dragged offstage by the neck. He is now in critical condition. On the surface, the difference between these two events boils down to money, knowledge and control. Mr. Yates, who lived in public housing and opened the door just enough to toss raw chicken into the room where he kept his big cat, knew only enough to stay out of the room where Ming lived. Like many exotic-pet owners, he had lost control of the situation once he could no longer hold the cat in his arms and bottle-feed it. Siegfried & Roy, on the other hand, can afford to keep their white tigers in luxury - though the grounds of a Las Vegas estate bear little relation to the natural range of a tiger in the wild. The magicians also had plenty of help controlling their animals, though Mr. Horn was alone on the stage with a tiger named Montecore when the attack came. But the ultimate illusion onstage at the MGM Mirage and at Mr. Yates's apartment was always the illusion that these animals could be tamed, an image reinforced by innumerable publicity photos of Siegfried & Roy lounging with their animals. As Montecore and Ming have proved, tigers, like all big cats, remain wild under the skin, even if they have never lived in the wild. Big cats deserve better than to be kept as pets. There are as few as 5,000 tigers remaining in the wild, down from some 100,000 a century ago. Tigers have enough trouble as it is. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/07/opinion/07TUE4.html?ex=1066533134 & ei=1 & en=88eb\ 6031e9c0cae9 Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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