Carole Baskin's Volunteer Almost Got Her Arm Ripped Off By Tiger
Carole Baskin recently had a scary event at her Big Cat Rescue sanctuary on Dec. 3. The 59-year-old zoo owner and television personality who made headlines for participating in the Dancing With The Stars show seemed to be in trouble.
One of her volunteers, Candy Couser, who works with the non-profit organization in Florida for over five years, was bitten by a tiger and almost took her arm off. The five-year veteran, reportedly, went to feed the sanctuary's tiger after noticing he was kept in a separate zone.
Couser noted that Kimba, the tiger wasn't at his usual spot of feeding, and she connected to her coordinator through radio to learn the reason. However, Couser revealed that she opened the door before the coordinator came to assist her. She admitted there was a shut clipped, which means one should not open the gate.
"This is our universal signal NOT to open a gate without the coordinator coming to assist, but Candy said she just wasn't thinking when she reached into unclip it," Baskin revealed.
The activist further said that it is against the sanctuary protocols for anyone to enter the cage or stick any of their body parts inside while there is a big cat present. Baskin further revealed that the mistake could have led her into bigger trouble.
Although the tiger nearly tore her arm off her shoulder. In fact, one of the employees recalled that her arm was holding the shoulder with a little skin underneath. However, Couser heard the noise and ran towards the cage, because of which the tiger to let go of his grip.
There were three more volunteers at the moment, and thankfully, one of them was a nurse named Gina, who helped the bleeding stop. Meanwhile, other volunteers called the ambulance. Amid all the commotion happened, Couser was conscious and asked not to harm the tiger for her mistake.
One of the insiders revealed that Couser repented opening the cage and repeatedly called herself "stupid." While the ambulance arrived after 15-20 minutes of the event, Gina saved her arm by applying ice packs.
The tiger will be kept in quarantine for 30 days due to safety protocols, while Baskin said that he acted normal being a big cat, who was given an opportunity and food. After the incident, Baskin took an internal meeting to remind everyone that this can happen to anyone within a second. She encouraged volunteers to keep their guards up around these big cats.