Florida Man Pays For ‘Full-Contact Experience’ With Rare Black Leopard – Gets Mauled Immediately
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The Netflix series Tiger King is responsible for two recent trends – people want to get up close and personal with dangerous animals and experienced people who own these animals are taking money to give people that opportunity.
Case in point – a Florida man was mauled by a black leopard in a backyard after paying the cat’s owner $150 for a “full-contact experience” with the rare animal.
Dwight Turner, 50, paid Michael Poggi the $150 to “play with it, rub its belly and take pictures.”
Turner found Poggi’s information on a Facebook page where Poggi claims to “run an animal sanctuary for rare and endangered animals.” A black leopard is included in the listing of animals.
Black leopards are incredibly rare. A few years ago, a black leopard was photographed in Africa for the first time in 100 years.
A report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission states that the moment Turner walked inside the enclosure, the leopard attacked.
The injuries to Turner were so severe, the FWC report says “the victim’s scalp was hanging from his head and his right ear was torn in half.”
Turner has had several surgeries to repair the damage. WPLG news took a photo of Turner with his face fully covered in bandages.
Authorities explain that Poggi is licensed to have the animal but the man admitted to officials that he knew what he did was illegal.
Poggi was charged with allowing full contact with an extremely dangerous animal and was cited for maintaining captive wildlife in an unsafe condition.
[via WPLG Local 10]
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Chris Illuminati, DMT.NEWS
