Pets & Animals

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― The San Francisco City Attorney's Office said Monday that the city is not liable for the death of a San Jose teenager who was mauled by an escaped Siberian tiger on Christmas Day at the San Francisco Zoo.

The city instead referred a claim filed by the parents of 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. to the San Francisco Zoological Society, which has a lease and management agreement to run the zoo, and to the society's insurance company, according to a letter issued by City Attorney Dennis Herrera.

The claim accused the city of wrongful death and negligence for the zoo's failure to properly enclose Tatiana the tiger, who escaped from her grotto and then attacked and killed Sousa as the zoo was closing for the day on Dec. 25.

The city's denial of the claim now opens the door for the Sousa family to file a lawsuit within six months, according to state law.

The family's lawyer, Michael Cardoza, said they plan to sue the city and the zoo operators, but would not say how much money they would seek.

"The city owns the animals and owns the property. They don't get to abrogate their responsibility by pointing to the zoo. They can fight about who is responsible," Cardoza said.

He said the Sousas were very emotional after reading reports last week that the tiger had lost 50 pounds since her arrival from a zoo in Denver two years ago. Zoo officials denied the tiger, who was fatally shot after the maulings, was underfed.

"I think because of the feeding they do publicly, they want their animals to be voraciously hungry so it makes a better show," Cardoza said.

Herrera's spokesman Matt Dorsey said Monday's letter was just a procedural step that occurs in most cases involving civil litigation against government entities.

"This is not a qualitative judgment on the seriousness of this tragedy and we're in no way seeking to minimize the terrible loss suffered by the Sousa family," Dorsey said. 
 
Herrera responded in a similar fashion in May by rejecting claims filed by brothers Kulbir and Paul Dhaliwal, two friends of Sousa who also were mauled by the tiger. 

That claim had contended the brothers suffered physical and emotional injuries from the tiger attack, that police wrongfully deprived Kulbir Dhaliwal of the use of his 2002 BMW during a subsequent investigation, and that the brothers were subsequently defamed by a public relations firm hired by the zoo after the attack.
 
Dorsey said Monday that his office had not yet been served with a lawsuit on the Dhaliwals' behalf.

Also in May, at the same time the Dhaliwals filed their claim, Alameda County prosecutors filed five felony counts against Amritpal Dhaliwal in a separate case alleging that he shoplifted electronic equipment and video games from Target stores in San Leandro, Hayward and Livermore.

Following the tiger maulings last December, San Francisco police conducted an investigation into whether Sousa or the Dhaliwals may have taunted the tiger before it escaped or whether drugs or alcohol were involved, and during the investigation took custody of Kulbir's car and both brothers' cell phones.

On Jan. 29, police suspended the investigation without filing any charges.
A toxicology report released earlier this month by the San Francisco medical examiner's office revealed traces of both alcohol and marijuana in Sousa's bloodstream at the time of his death.

The zoo on June 6 announced the resignation of zoo director Manuel Mollinedo, who was hired in 2004. Zoological Society board member Tanya McVeigh Peterson is serving as interim director until the position is filled.

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