Tiger will retire from public life

Thursday, March 29, 2001 | 11:18 a.m.

A tiger that killed its trainer is being retired from a public life that included having his photo taken with thousands of curious people who stood just inches from the animal.

Jagger, a Bengal tiger owned by Las Vegas animal trainer Josh Weinstein, is undergoing rabies testing. If he is cleared, the animal, which killed co-trainer Eric Bloom, 25, Sunday night, will be retired to stud.

"We will be getting him a girlfriend so he can make babies, but he will not be used for photographs with the public anymore -- he is retiring," Weinstein's spokesman and his girlfriend, Samantha, (no last name given) said today. She noted there currently are no plans to put the 7-year-old animal down.

Samantha said she and Weinstein -- who is recovering from wounds to his knee suffered when he tried to pry Jagger loose from Bloom prior to a photography shoot -- were unaware of a warrant for Weinstein's arrest stemming from charges in California.

"We will take care of that when this is cleared up," she said.

Long Beach City Prosecutor Tom Reeves said today that the failure to appear warrant on a two-count municipal charge was issued on Feb. 25, 1997, stemming from a Jan. 3 incident when Weinstein was cited for showing his lion, Aslan, and Jagger without city permits.

"He was setting up for pictures at the Long Beach Convention Center," Reeves said. "People were taken into the cages to have their pictures taken with the animals."

Samantha said thousands of pictures were taken over the past seven years without incident and there was "no danger" because the animals were locked to a platform by a six-inch chain.

In 1996, in Pomona, Calif., Weinstein was cited for transporting his animals in an improperly ventilated vehicle, said Brian Sampson, animal control officer with the Inland Valley Humane Society and SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

"We had a report that the lion was loose near the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, but we never saw it loose," Sampson said.