Demonstrators are protesting outside the Bowmanville Zoo this morning in response to a video released last week which showed its owner striking a tiger with a whip and swearing angrily.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a 97 second-long video of Michael Hackenberger training a Siberian tiger named Uno.
When the cat ignores its cue and jumps on a ledge, Hackenberger swears angrily calling the animal a “F***ing piece of f***ing s**t.”
He is then seen striking the tiger with a whip in order to get it to turn around.
In his own video response, Hackenberger says the PETA footage takes his actions out of context.
“Maybe I viciously hit the ground, maybe I viciously hit the air but I did not viciously whip that tiger,” he said. “My bad language? Foul. Terrible. But I did not strike that tiger except for the first two times to turn him around.”
On a Facebook page, protesters say they want the Bowmanville Zoo shut down in wake of this video footage and add that earlier events, such as when Hackenberger called a monkey a “f***ing c*****ker” during a live broadcast on Breakfast Television, prove he is no longer fit to work with animals.
Carly Ferguson of Ontario Captive Animal Watch told CP24 wants the Zoo to stop offering animals for rental for birthday parties and film shoots.
Both the OSPCA and Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums, of which Bowmanville Zoo is a member, say they are reviewing the events depicted in the video.
