bear mauling was avoidable say officials

Authorities Say Bear Trainer Mauling Was Unnecessary Fatality

The death of a 24-year old animal trainer in Montana last fall could have been avoided, say federal authorities, if the proper safety procedures had been followed. Benjamin Cloutier was fatally mauled by two brown bears, each weighing half a ton, while he attempted to clean their cages at the Animals of Montana sanctuary near Bozeman.

The violation of federal workplace safety rules was directly attributed to helping cause Cloutier’s death since the bears should have been housed in a separate enclosure while their living space was being cleaned by the worker. The company should not have allowed an employee direct contact with the wild animals and did not report his death in timely fashion, said Jeff Funke, area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“Those types of apex predators, it’s common knowledge that they’re dangerous,” Funke said. “If this were a (captive) bird or a raven or something else it would have been a different story.”

Animals of Montana owner Troy Hyde rejected the assertion that Cloutier’s death was preventable, saying putting its trainers inside the cages of predatory animals “is absolutely something we must do.”

“We work inside a business that’s a highly dangerous business, and everybody that works within this business is very aware of the dangers,” he told The Associated Press. “Those people don’t understand what we do. We’re not a zoo.”

Although one of the bears was killed on site immediately following the attack, the company has steadfastly refused to euthanize the second bear involved and denies it did anything wrong by allowing Cloutier to be physically in the same cage as the bears.

After authorities from the state wildlife commission as well as OSHA investigated the incident, it was determined that several other wild animals escapes had already occurred from the Animals in Montana facility. Authorities are considering fining its owners $9,000 for safety violations.

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Authorities say fatal Montana bear mauling could have been prevented, proposes $9K in fines
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