Two brothers who survived an attack by a Siberian tiger at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas Day 2007 have settled with the Zoo. The Zoo has agreed to pay Kulbir and Amritpal Dhaliwal $900,000 to settle the claims.

On Christmas day 2007, Tatiana, a 243 pound Siberian tiger escaped from her enclosure, attacking the two brothers as well as their friend 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. Sousa was killed in the animal attack, and the two brothers were left injured. Both Kulbir and Amritpal fled to the zoo café where the tiger followed them. The police was late to arrive, and response was further delayed because the security guards had enforced a lockdown of the premises, to prevent Tatiana from escaping the zoo premises. The Dhaliwal brothers suffered severe tiger bite wounds and claw wounds. The tiger was shot dead.

The settlement with the zoo comes a few days after attorneys for the brothers filed court documents, claiming that police officers had been ordered to issue arrest warrants for the brothers, accusing them of manslaughter in Sousa’s death. According to the court documents, the warrants had been issued to deflect attention away from the city’s negligence in the animal attack, and to intimidate Kulbir and Amritpal.

Soon after the animal attack, San Francisco city and zoo authorities suggested that the tigress was provoked into attacking the three men. The zoo director insisted that there is no way that Tatiana could have escaped the enclosure on her own. Some sources reported that sticks and pinecones were found inside the enclosure, which were probably thrown at Tatiana. Amritpal, who was 19 at the time of the attack, told Sousa’s father that the three had been yelling and waving the tiger just before she attacked them. Toxicology tests confirmed that the three including Sousa, had smoked Marijuana and drank alcohol at the time of the attack. The BMW that the brothers had used on that fateful day also contained bottles of alcohol and Marijuana.

The Associations of Zoos and Aquariums recommends walls for big cat enclosures to be 15.5 feet. Two days after the attack, the San Francisco zoo retracted its claim that the wall was 18 feet after it measured and found the wall to be just 12.5 feet. Besides, an autopsy conducted on Tatiana who was shot dead after the attack, found pieces of concrete on her paws which seem to indicate that she clambered up the wall, and out of the enclosure.

Right from the beginning, there were attempts made to vilify Kulbir and Amritpal. Much was made of their alcohol use, and a lot of attention was given to whether they had been taunting or teasing the tiger before the animal attack. All of this is utterly unimportant. It makes no difference whether the two brothers were simply standing by the enclosure, or teasing the big cat. The fact is that a large predatory animal was allowed to escape the confines of her enclosure due to the small sized moat wall. It’s inexcusable that a 243-pound animal was able to climb out of her enclosure and attack visitors. The zoo was clearly in the wrong because of its failure to construct a wall enclosure according to AZA recommendations.

You may not agree with Kulbir and Amritpal Dhaliwal’s behavior at the time of attack, but there is no denying that zoo negligence led to the tiger being able to climb out and attack visitors.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of animal attacks. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Dog owners in a south Vallejo neighborhood are living in fear after an unleashed and unrestrained pit bull mauled three pet dogs and injured a man in two separate dog attack incidents. 

The first dog bite incident took place about a week ago when Maurice Bacelis was walking his two dogs in their neighborhood. As Bacelis reports, a tan pit bull suddenly appeared and attacked the two dogs, a Yorkshire Terrier and a Labrador. While Bacelis tried to fend off the attack on his dogs, the pit bull was ferocious in its aggression. By the time the dog attack ended and Bacelis was able to drive the pit bull away, the Terrier had been eviscerated and was lying dead.  The Labrador had a good portion of his leg chomped off.  Bacelis also suffered injuries to his arm and leg in the dog attack.

Just an hour after this dog bite attack, another similar incident was reported in the same neighborhood. This time, the dog that was being walked by its owner was a Chihuahua-Labrador mix and the injuries were not severe enough to cause death.

More frighteningly for pet owners in the area, animal control officers who are on the lookout for the renegade dog, believe that it isn’t a stray, but a dog that is being reared in the very same neighborhood.  A stray isn’t likely to be so confidently aggressive towards others. A dog that’s familiar with the neighborhood, however, is prone to showing his dominance over other dogs in the vicinity by attacking them.

The suspected pedigree of the dog that has been involved in these dog bite attacks is also not too surprising. Pit bulls often feature in such incidents along with other aggressive breeds like Rottweilers.   Bacelis is furious. He rightly wants to know how an aggressive breed like that was allowed to roam the neighborhood free without a leash. 

It’s the obvious question to ask. Even more importantly, is the owner aware of his dog’s destructive escapades out of the confines of his home? Is the dog being confined under strict lock and key at all, or is there negligence involved which leads to the animal frequently heading out of its confines to terrorize the world outside.

It definitely seems like a tragedy just waiting to happen.  So far, the incidence of human injuries in these dog bite attacks in Vallejo has been minimal. Apart from a few injuries that Bacelis suffered; there have been no other injuries or attacks on humans in the situation.  But that might not last for long. 

Animal control officers in the area are acutely aware of the dangers that this situation poses and are heightening the efforts to trace the dog and its owner. Until then, dog owners in the area are being advised to exercise caution when faced with a strange and unrestrained dog.  Be calm, they warn, and if with a small dog, pick it up slowly and walk away.  We hope that the mystery of the dog is solved quickly before there is a serious dog bite attack to report.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of dog bite attacks. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

When Jabari, the 13-year-old 340-pound gorilla at the Dallas Zoo, executed a flying leap that landed him out of his enclosure and right into a bunch of terrified visitors, it was the wildest thing people at the Wilds of Africa exhibit at the zoo had seen. The gorilla went on a rampage, picking a toddler up with his teeth and then biting him. It also attacked another woman and her child. In all, the gorilla rampage injured four visitors to the zoo who had been unfortunate enough to be outside his enclosure that particular day. The pandemonium continued for a few minutes before zoo security keepers shot the animal dead.

Now, a Dallas court has ruled that the city can’t be given immunity in lawsuits bought by the victims of the gorilla attack. The lawsuit had alleged, among other things, that the city neglected to provide adequate confinement of gorillas and provided an “unreasonable risk of escape.” The victims, 3-year-old Rivers Noah and his mother, Keish Heard, were among those who were injured in the attack. River was admitted to hospital with lacerations and bite injuries on his head and chest. His mother was bitten on the legs. Another woman and child were also injured.

The victims say their medical bills after the rampage cost them tens of thousands of dollars, and are seeking compensation for these expenses, as well as the trauma they suffered at the time of the attack. In a case like this, it’s easy to believe that the emotional suffering and trauma on being attacked by an angry animal must have been worse than the physical scars.

The zoo had its own way of dealing with the attack. Officials claim that the leap from his enclosure was a one in a million occurrence. That doesn’t absolve them of any responsibility. This wasn’t a genetically modified gorilla. This was a normal sized gorilla for his species, that’s found in zoos across the world. When you decide to keep an animal of that size in your zoo, you better be aware of what makes him irritated or angry enough to fly over a12 foot leap. A “one in a million” type defense is not easy to stomach.

The possibility of human error too has not been ruled out. Investigators say they found no sign of any human interference in the security doors and other mechanisms, but animal experts have voiced their skepticism that a gorilla could leap across a 12-foot moat or scale a 15-foot wall.

Regardless of whether it was human error or a leap, there’s no doubt that the zoo and the city are still liable, and we hope the victims receive compensation for their suffering and losses.

A 45-year-old woman died a horrific death after she was mauled by a pack of four dogs in Yermo, California. Kelly Caldwell died after paramedics, who rushed to the scene, transported to her to a nearby hospital. She had multiple perforating injuries and dog bite marks.

One of the dogs was killed after it became aggressive towards paramedics while another was killed after it showed the same behavior towards animal control officers. The other two dogs were taken away as evidence. As expected the owners of the dogs claim that their dogs have never been violent.

Yermo has found itself with a dog menace problem for many months now, and residents claim that animal control help is either too late or never available. It’s a common sight to see dogs running around on the streets, and when concerned residents called animal control, they seem hesitant to come out to Yermo.

In this tiny isolated community, it appears the dog problem has gone from being merely an annoyance and a noisy disturbance to an outright danger for residents who claim they are often scared to venture out after dark. Obviously Yermo is paying the price for its out-of-the-way location.

A stricter enforcement of pet laws might have prevented Caldwell’s death. It’s not clear what the dogs were doing out on that road, but obviously responsibility lies with the pet owners even if, like they claimed, their dogs had “never been violent before.”

No matter what pet owners may claim about the dogs not being the ones to blame, the fact is that when someone is killed in so brutal a fashion, the rights of a person to walk safely on the streets become more important than a person’s right to keep aggressive breeds of dogs. Stronger pet laws are needed, and restrictions will have to be enforced. More importantly, stronger punishment for dog attacks and higher liability are in order. Otherwise, we risk turning into a country that cares more for the rights of dogs than the life and safety of citizens.

If you or a loved-one has been injured or killed by an aggressive dog or any other type of domesticated animal, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact The Reeves Law Group immediately for a free consultation.