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FWP seeks to revoke Animals of Montana menagerie permit

Associated Press
Updated 1 hr ago

HELENA — A Montana wildlife casting agency where an employee was fatally mauled three years ago is facing the loss of its permit because of violations that include instructing a member of the public to approach a tiger during a photo shoot in Detroit. ...
Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokeswoman Andrea Jones said Monday the state is moving to shut down Animals of Montana, which also rents trained bears, wolves and other captive-born wildlife for photography shoots and motion pictures.

The company took animals away from its property without the authorization of FWP at least three times this year, Jones said. Agency officials said a November inspection turned up numerous animal cages that were not padlocked, some that were too small and some that had no roof protection. An inspector also found some cages without water and some that appeared to not have been cleaned for days, the agency said.
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In November 2012, 24-year-old trainer Benjamin Cloutier of York Haven, Penn., was mauled to death by a black bear while cleaning an enclosure. The Gallatin County sheriff's office deemed Cloutier's death accidental. ... The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed fining Animals of Montana $9,000 for unsafe working conditions and for failing to immediately report the death. The bears were not locked up while Cloutier was cleaning their enclosure, owner Troy Hyde has said.

In August, Animals of Montana took a tiger and other animals to Detroit for a photo shoot in an abandoned building. A member of the public was encouraged to use the noise of a weed whacker to try to encourage the tiger to move out of a stairwell, "putting the person in harm's way and also treating the tiger in an inhumane way," the FWP notice said.