Ontario’s Bowmanville Zoo has made international headlines – and not for a good reason.
At all.
PETA is pissed; and so are we.
Celebrity animal trainer Michael Hackenberger, who is also the director of the Bowmanville Zoo, has been caught on video brutally whipping a Siberian tiger several times (as in, 20) until the animal recoils on its back during a training session. He swears at the tiger in the process.
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In the video, it clearly appears that he is whipping the animal multiple times, even admitting at one point that PETA would burn his training facility to the ground if they saw his training techniques.
If PETA doesn’t do it, after watching the painful video, you’ll probably want to do it yourself. Or, at very least, boycott the Bowmanville Zoo.
As for Hackenberger, he is denying PETA’s claims, arguing that he was hitting the ground with his whip and that the animal rights group sliced the video to make it look worse than it actually was.
Hackenberger’s alleged “expertise” spans beyond the confines of Bowmanville, Ontario. His Hollywood credits include “The Interview,” “Life of Pi”, and the Disney flick “George of the Jungle.”
According to zoo staff, Hackenberger was not at the site yesterday to comment on the matter, but did direct inquiries to a video rebuttal posted by the owner on YouTube on Monday.
What do you think?
PS – keep in mind that this was the same man who referred to a misbehaving monkey as a “f—ing c–k sucker” back in the summer. Just sayin’.