Stray dog survives attack by a 225-pound tiger.

[Cameron...G]

Check this out! Wow!

Runaway Dog Survives Tiger Attack At Memphis Zoo
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) ― If there's one place to avoid while on the lam in a zoo it's the tiger pit. One stray dog learned that lesson the hard way and was recovering Wednesday from puncture wounds to its neck and shoulders.

"This is one lucky animal," Memphis Zoo spokesman Brian Carter said of the dog.

The 50-pound female retriever mix darted inside a service entrance to the zoo on Tuesday and led workers on a brief chase before it bolted over a 4-foot-high visitors railing and a retaining wall at the tiger exhibit.

She swam across a 12-foot-wide moat to the interior of the exhibit and was quickly attacked by a 225-pound female Sumatran tiger. The open exhibit's main walls are 18 feet high.

"The exhibit is designed to keep the animals from getting out but not for keeping animals from getting in," zoo spokesman Brian Carter said. "You can jump off a cliff but you can't jump up a cliff."

Zoo workers, who were close on the dog's trail, used fireworks and air horns to distract the two tigers in the exhibit and get them into their night enclosures behind the exhibit's viewing area.

One tiger, born in captivity, had the dog in her grasp for several minutes, Carter said.

"She didn't have the experience of live hunting, but she certainly had the instincts," he said.

After emergency treatment by zoo veterinarians, the dog was taken to the Animal Emergency Medical Center in Memphis, where she was reported in good condition Wednesday.

"She's resting comfortably," said clinic manager Clarita Atkinson. "She's fairly unscathed for the amount of damage that could have been done."

The dog was wearing a collar that did not include an address, Carter said, and zoo officials were trying to find the animal's owner. The zoo is in a large park in a residential area of the city.


(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

[echoxxash]

Wow. That is crazy. VERY lucky dog.

[tmangt7]

yes lucky dog, unlike some of the unlucky fellows that were antogonizing (sp?) the tigers at the zoo near my house, San Francisco Zoo, one dead and two injured after drinking liqour and shooting stuff from a sling shot at the tigers, and eventually leading to the tiger being shot unfortunately...

[echoxxash]

I was so mad when I saw that on the news!! Sounds harsh, but all three of them should have gotten killed. It absolutely infuriates me to see/hear about stupid idiots doing crap like that. Poor tiger.

[tmangt7]

yah exactly what i said, but of course they hold all that information until like a couple days later, but still, exactly what i said, they shouldda shot the three idiots and tranquilized the tiger.

[roynjenn]

Originally Posted by tmangt7

yah exactly what i said, but of course they hold all that information until like a couple days later, but still, exactly what i said, they shouldda shot the three idiots and tranquilized the tiger.

very well said

[tmangt7]

Originally Posted by roynjenn

very well said

seriously tho, i mean i understand its a big #$# animal, but still, when you have dummies doin what they're doin to the tiger, they DESERVE to get eaten, just like if someone were to antagonize my snake, id go get a mouse and let it eat off them, and hopefully they get bit and dont do it again. not to be mean, well wait maybe to be mean, but its like cmon people use ur darn brains. just because u thought it wasnt going to get out, now it did and one of ur friends is dead, and ur MORE THAN LIKELY not comin back to that zoo, (HOPEFULLY) some people just dont got any common sense, i mean if i was drunk walkin around the zoo, i think id respect the rules a lil more than if i was sober anyways, thats a rant in a half but its my 2 cents!!

[Icicle]

Wonder who pays the vet bills for the lost dog.
I feel sorry for the mutt.

[Cameron...G]

Wonder what the dog was thinking when jumping in the tiger pen?

[Joene']

Good kitty