Agency begins probe into mauling

Jean Reid Norman and Ed Koch

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2003 | 11:15 a.m.

The U.S. Agricultural Department has begun an investigation into Friday's mauling of entertainer Roy Horn by one of his tigers.

Jim Rogers, spokesman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the agency is investigating, but said he could provide no further information. In general, Rogers said, such investigations look for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

The act, among other things, lays out conditions under which wild animal handlers, from zoos and dealers to entertainers, may hold permits and empowers the USDA to write rules to ensure the animals' humane care.

What the law does not do is set specific safety measures for audiences in such venues as Las Vegas production shows, leaving the question of safety to the judgment of inspectors.

When asked if such performances are safe, Rogers said, "It's allowed by law. We inspect and make sure the law is being enforced."

The federal regulations require "sufficient distance and/or barriers between the animal and the general viewing public so as to assure the safety of animals and the public," during public exhibitions.

"A lot of it is subjective," Rogers said, "but our inspectors are trained to use their judgment and determine what is sufficient."

Rogers did not say what criteria the inspectors use in making those judgments.

The judgment of the federal inspectors is the only public safety check. The state has no regulation of exotic animals, according to the state Department of Wildlife. The county's role is limited to overseeing the quarantine of the 7-year-old tiger, Montecore, who first bit Horn's arm, then lunged for his neck and dragged him off stage, county officials say.

"Our laws are primarily designed to protect the safety and welfare of the animal," Rogers said. "It has two sections on public safety (requiring sufficient distance or barriers and leashes), but that's it.

"If the law is changed, of course, we would enforce it. We don't write the law."

Four inspections during the past three years at the Siegfried and Roy compounds both at the Las Vegas residence and at the Mirage, showed no problems at either, and the stage setup was one of the areas inspected, Rogers said.

No visible barrier exists between the stage and audience, and during the show tigers are led by chains around the stage and along a walkway that gives audience members a close-up look at the animals.

But safety precautions, while not evident from a showroom seat, were in place at all times and not only met any federal safety standards, but Horn's standards, MGM MIRAGE spokesman Alan Feldman said.

"Safety was always a top priority for Siegfried and Roy, whether it was a matter of what was going on backstage or what was going on onstage," Feldman said.

Some of the built-in precautions included steel curtains that could be brought down to contain the animals and that sometimes "were in place during the show in such a way that the audience would not know that they were there," Feldman said.

In addition, backstage was engineered in such a way that areas could be closed off to protect the cast and crew in the event of an incident, he said.

Rogers said the precautions were judged sufficient by federal inspectors during the last four inspections.

"If it wasn't sufficient, it would have been noted on an inspection report," Rogers said.

Even with such safety precautions in place, use of tigers in shows can be risky, said Dirk Arthur, whose show "The New Art of Magic," at the Plaza, uses eight big cats.

"The key is to have total respect for the animals, realizing that they are wild and that the wildness can come out at anytime," he said.

His act uses four Plexiglas illusions. The Plexiglas is bulletproof, and the animals cannot escape from the Plexiglas enclosures, he said. In addition, Arthur said he uses chains that are secured to the stage and walks the animals on and off stage himself on leashes. If an animal gets antsy, he walks it in circles until it calms down.

He also keeps his animals about 15 feet away from the audience, "giving me a comfortable margin of safety while allowing the audience to enjoy the beauty of the animal."

Even with those measures in place, Arthur has contingency plans. One is to use a fire extinguisher to get an animal who has attacked to let go. That was the procedure used to get Montecore off Horn backstage last week.

County Animal Control Officer Joe Boteilho said a fire extinguisher is the preferred method to disengage an animal from an attack.

"The cold, the blast, it creates noise, it disconnects their thinking," Boteilho said. "Usually it will stop an attack. I think it's the best thing to do."

The wrong thing to do, Arthur said, is to try to shoot an attacking animal with a tranquilizer or real gun.

"Using a tranquilizer gun simply does not work," Arthur said. "Most chemicals take minutes, and that is not quick enough."

Once shot, he said, the animal "might panic and start slashing about if he is wounded. He will forget all of his training and become confused and even more dangerous."

A real bullet is no better, because if a shot misses, it could injure or kill someone, Arthur said.

The county does not get involved in such safety regulations, Boteilho said, allowing federal regulators to decide what is and is not safe.

"I think that the USDA has the experience in this," he said.

The county Animal Control department has drafted a proposed ordinance to regulate exotic animals, but its intent is to oversee residents who keep lions, tigers, bears and other dangerous animals as pets, not people who are licensed through the USDA, Boteilho said.

County Manager Thom Reilly said he wasn't sure whether the county had the authority to pass laws stricter than the federal rules, but he thought Horn's injury may bring more scrutiny of the way animals are used in entertainment.

"Tragedies, unfortunately, prevent others in the future. It requires all agencies to review policies and practices," Reilly said.

"I think you'll see a review at all levels," he said, "not only the issue of the public, but also the issue of protection of employees."

Rogers said there is nothing stopping the county, if it decides stricter rules are needed.

"There's no conflict," he said. "Whoever's regulations are strongest are endorsed."

Meanwhile, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called on Siegfried and Roy to close the show and build a sanctuary for the cats.

In a letter to the entertainers, the PETA Vice President Dan Mathews wrote, "Perhaps Friday's frightening incident will make you realize that a brightly lit stage with pounding music and a screaming audience is not the natural habitat for tigers, lions or any other exotic animals."

A group calling itself SR Against PETA responded, calling the letter, which it says was sent to Horn's room at University Medical Center, irresponsible.

"It is our firm belief that PETA has shown an immense amount of disrespect by refusing to wait until Roy has sufficiently recovered to send such a letter," the group said in a letter to the media.

The group said a movement has begun within the Siegfried and Roy fan base to demand a public apology from PETA.

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