Sarah McClay, 24, was killed by a Sumatran tiger in its enclosure at South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria
A zoo-keeper mauled to death by a tiger lost her life 'doing her
dream job' - and would not want the big cat destroyed, her mum said
today. Sarah McClay, 24, was killed by a Sumatran tiger in its enclosure at South Lakes Wild Animal Park in
Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria.
The animal lover was dragged by the big cat, called Padang, and died from "multiple" injuries, including deep wounds to her neck, back, chest, arms and left foot. The beast attacked with such force that Sarah's spine was fractured, her ribs shattered, with one of the "unsurvivable" injuries exposing the spinal cord. Her mum Fiona told her inquest heard today how her daughter was captivated by the animal park during a visit there as a child.
During a safety inspection in the hours after the attack, a "defective" bolt was found on a gate in the Tiger House which kept the big cats apart from their keepers.
The jury was not told whether it had played a role in the tragedy on May 24, 2013.
Fiona said:
"She was an animal carer at the park for three years. She talked about it constantly, it was her dream job, ever since she had visited there as a young child. She was interested in the animal world of Great Britain, in their natural habitats, birds and creatures in hedgerows perhaps rather than animals of the world. She had no particular affinity for the big cats but spoke about working with them, and she felt it was a privilege. She stressed her daughter was "a meticulous person in the extreme" in everything that she did. She would never just do a job, she would always want to do it that little better. That was true of her school work and her later life. She was always on time or before time and would always stay on late in any situation if that is what was required. "
"She was never critical of anybody, and enjoyed doing what she was doing." When asked about calls for the tiger to be destroyed after the tragedy, Fiona added, "That is absolutely 100 per cent not what Sarah would have wanted. She would not have blamed the tiger for what happened."
Owen Broadhead, Barrow Council senior environmental health officer, visited the park in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. He showed the jury a video filmed inside the Tiger House shortly afterwards, and a scale model of the enclosure including three sliding metal gates used to secure two Sumatran tigers - including Padang - an Amur tiger, and two Jaguar big cats.
During his inspection just hours after Sarah's death, he found a "defective" bolt on one of the gates, which had not been repaired when he made a repeat visit the following week. He added: "The bolt was still defective. Because the bolt could not be held back, it would bang against the door frame.
and left a gap of about 20-25 millimetres. If the bolt had been working properly, it would be held back and close tightly to the frame.
The jury was shown a "keepers' corridor' on the scale model of the enclosure where staff worked while the big cats were in their quarters. South Cumbria coroner Ian Smith told the six women and four men on the jury that the hearing was "extremely unusual, and may be distressing" due to the nature of the attack. But he assured them they would not be expected to view "extremely graphic or gory" photos during the course of the inquest, expected to last five days.
The jury visit the animal park tomorrow to view the scene of the tragedy.
source
The animal lover was dragged by the big cat, called Padang, and died from "multiple" injuries, including deep wounds to her neck, back, chest, arms and left foot. The beast attacked with such force that Sarah's spine was fractured, her ribs shattered, with one of the "unsurvivable" injuries exposing the spinal cord. Her mum Fiona told her inquest heard today how her daughter was captivated by the animal park during a visit there as a child.
During a safety inspection in the hours after the attack, a "defective" bolt was found on a gate in the Tiger House which kept the big cats apart from their keepers.
The jury was not told whether it had played a role in the tragedy on May 24, 2013.
Fiona said:
"She was an animal carer at the park for three years. She talked about it constantly, it was her dream job, ever since she had visited there as a young child. She was interested in the animal world of Great Britain, in their natural habitats, birds and creatures in hedgerows perhaps rather than animals of the world. She had no particular affinity for the big cats but spoke about working with them, and she felt it was a privilege. She stressed her daughter was "a meticulous person in the extreme" in everything that she did. She would never just do a job, she would always want to do it that little better. That was true of her school work and her later life. She was always on time or before time and would always stay on late in any situation if that is what was required. "
"She was never critical of anybody, and enjoyed doing what she was doing." When asked about calls for the tiger to be destroyed after the tragedy, Fiona added, "That is absolutely 100 per cent not what Sarah would have wanted. She would not have blamed the tiger for what happened."
Owen Broadhead, Barrow Council senior environmental health officer, visited the park in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. He showed the jury a video filmed inside the Tiger House shortly afterwards, and a scale model of the enclosure including three sliding metal gates used to secure two Sumatran tigers - including Padang - an Amur tiger, and two Jaguar big cats.
During his inspection just hours after Sarah's death, he found a "defective" bolt on one of the gates, which had not been repaired when he made a repeat visit the following week. He added: "The bolt was still defective. Because the bolt could not be held back, it would bang against the door frame.
and left a gap of about 20-25 millimetres. If the bolt had been working properly, it would be held back and close tightly to the frame.
The jury was shown a "keepers' corridor' on the scale model of the enclosure where staff worked while the big cats were in their quarters. South Cumbria coroner Ian Smith told the six women and four men on the jury that the hearing was "extremely unusual, and may be distressing" due to the nature of the attack. But he assured them they would not be expected to view "extremely graphic or gory" photos during the course of the inquest, expected to last five days.
The jury visit the animal park tomorrow to view the scene of the tragedy.
source
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