View From Lodi, CA: Who Speaks For Tatiana The Tiger?

Richard Turner, D.V.M., sedates and treats

tigers on a regular basis at his Lodi Arbor Pet
Clinic. Within the last six months, Turner has
anesthetized six of the large cats in preparation for
surgery. [Tiger
Tale, Lodi News-Sentinel, May 27, 2006)

I spoke with Turner recently about the Christmas Day
incident at the San Francisco Zoo that left

Carlos Sousa Jr. and Tatiana the tiger dead,

During our conversation, Turner emphasized repeatedly
that drug combinations are readily available that can
immobilize large animals quickly, in many cases less
than 64 seconds. Turner`s recommendation is to: “have
a fully loaded tranquilizer gun and dart ready to use.
Even if the medications were overdosed, the tiger would
only sleep for hours. But he would be alive.”

Turner sadly added that: “No one had to die. I`m
concerned about the foolishness of the young men and
that the tiger`s rights were violated by improper
preparation by zoo officials.”

As bits and pieces of the story continue to come in,
a few details about the surviving perpetrators are
clear. They are not the type you`ll invite to your house
for dinner.

Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal are miscreants who had been
drinking heavily, smoking pot and who lied about their
actions at the zoo. [Tiger
Twits In Silence Pact, By Tim Perone and Bill
Sanderson, New York Post, January 6, 2008]

Further, they have a long and ugly police record.
Paul, at the time of the zoo incident, was on felony
probation after pleading no contest to reckless and
drunken driving, resisting arrest, striking an officer
and providing a false name.

Kulbir, for his part, was charged in September for
public intoxication and resisting arrest.

But despite evidence that the trio taunted Tatiana,
the police investigation may soon be reclassified as “inactive”

That would be a pity because where the Dhaliwals
should be, for the safety of all of us, is off the
street.

Numerous studies indicate that youthful violent
behavior toward animals is a predictor of similar
anti-social behavior that will be directed toward
adults.

According to information recently released by

PAWS, the

FBI looks for cases of animal cruelty when profiling
serial killers. And the

Department of Justice when assessing youth who are
at risk of committing interpersonal violence, emphasizes
the importance of including information about past
animal abuse. 

A study in 1997 by the

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals and

Northeastern University found that 70 percent of all
animal abusers have committed at least one other
criminal offense and that almost 40 percent had
committed violent crimes against people.

Researchers also found that over a 20-year period,
individuals who had

abused animals as youths are five times more likely
to commit violent crimes, four times more likely to
commit property crimes and three times more likely to
have drug or disorderly conduct offenses than a matched
group of non-animal abusers.

Luckily for the perpetrators, they`ve

lawyered up. The Souza family hired Michael Cardoza,
a Walnut Creek criminal defense attorney who has worked
on such highly publicized cases as the Scott Peterson
murder trial and the 2001 San Francisco dog mauling. And
the Dhaliwals retained the counsel of high-profile Los
Angeles attorney Mark Geragos who represented Peterson.
(The San Francisco Chronicle maintains an
Internet page with its complete archive of stories on
Tatiana

here.)

But who, Turner wants to know, speaks in defense of
Tatiana?

A New Year`s Day vigil was held for the tiger at
Ocean Beach—four people showed up. [The
Life and Times of Tatiana the Tiger, By Linda
Goldston, Mercury News, January 11, 2008]

The

World Wildlife Fund places the tiger at "five
minutes to midnight," meaning that their time is
short. Only 5,000 tigers remain worldwide, down from an
estimated 100,000 a century ago.

With the tiger population
vanishing, Turner`s conclusion is that we have to do
more to protect the ones that remain. Enclosures should
be safe and secure and zoo personnel well trained on how
to use readily accessible tranquilizing guns.

As for Tatiana, Turner says:
“The tiger got a bad rap.”

Joe Guzzardi [email
him], an instructor in English
at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly
column since 1988. It currently appears in the

Lodi News-Sentinel.