City Denies Liability in Tiger Attack

Scott Kappes

Contributor
(866) 735-1102 Ext 346

0 CommentsPrint ArticleSubscribe

Last week San Francisco City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, denied a claim that the city was at all responsible in a Christmas Day tiger attack that left Carlos Sousa Jr. dead and brothers Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal injured. In a set of documents signed May 8 Herrera and adjuster Joe Abad said there is “no indication of liability.” It is unclear how the 250-pound Siberian tiger escaped from its enclosure, but after an inspection it was learned that the retaining wall in the exhibit was four feet lower than industry standards and group that accredits zoos said that poor training and insufficient staffing added to the tragedy.

In March the Dhaliwal brothers filed a claim for damages against the city of San Francisco. This is usually a precursor to lawsuit. Herrera referred the brothers to the San Francisco Zoological Society, which runs the zoo, on city land.

In their claim, the Dhaliwals accused the public relations firm of Sam Singer, hired by the zoo, of making false statements about them after the attack. The claim also states that San Francisco and the zoo should have been able to prevent the tiger's escape.