A terrifying moment went down at the Pensacola Interstate Fair on Tuesday when an animal trainer had to fight off a tiger when it began clawing at her legs. A group of horrified children and their parents looked on as the frightening scene unfolded.
During a show for a group of children on a field trip, trainer Vicenta Pages commanded 2-year-old Bengal tiger named Gandhi to “get over, all the way.” Gandhi refused to obey.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“Get over all the way, Gandhi, Gandhi,” Pages said in the video. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, Gandhi, no, Gandhi, Gandhi, no!” Pages said as the enormous cat began to scratch at her legs.
As Vicenta fell to the ground struggling to fight off the tiger, her husband rushed into the enclosure and began hitting Gandhi repeatedly with a metal stick.
Katie King, the publicist for the Pensacola fair, told the Pensacola News Journal that Vicenta Pages suffered several cuts from the Bengal’s claws but was not bitten.
“She tripped and landed on her butt,” King said, “He grabbed her legs with his claws. She inched forward so he wouldn’t do too much damage, because she didn’t want to pull away and make it worse. She followed protocol.”
At the time of the scary incident, the fair was actually closed and the only people present were the 33 children in attendance for a private showing, according to the New York Post.
Pages was taken to the hospital for a surgical procedure. She is being treated for a possible infection because tigers’ teeth and claws regularly come into contact with bacteria, according to King.
Just prior to the incident, King explained that Pages had been “playing” with the tiger, and that Gandhi likely was thinking that playtime was not over.
No harm will be brought to the Bengal tiger, and the animal control officials were not notified to report the accident.
“With six white tigers, Vicenta has spent the last four years touring with Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey,” the site says. “She now will take you through her upbringing in the circus world, her family back ground and her unique raising of the White Bengal Tigers.”
The general manager of the fair, Don Frankel, said that the video shot by someone in the audience gave a much different account of the incident than the statement that was previously provided.
“Fair officials did not witness the incident and relied upon the owner’s statement when responding to press inquiries,” Frankel wrote in an email. “We apologize for any misinformation. The fair does not condone the mistreatment of animals.”
How would you have reacted if you were there when the tiger attacked the animal trainer?
[H/T YouTube, New York Post]
