Page 7 of Tiger Queen
“That’s the zoo,” he told me when we finished the loop and returned to the visitor’s center. “If you’re ready to sign the paperwork…”
“Can I see the veterinary facilities?” I asked. “The entire employee section of the zoo would be great, too.”
“Sure, sure. The vet’s office is this way.”
The vet’s office turned out to be an old building that looked like it was one strong wind away from being blown over. The inside was humid and smelled strongly of mildew. Dust motes drifted through the air, and when I tried turning on the lights one of the halogen bulbs in the ceiling crackled and went dark. It looked like it had not been used in years.
“It needs some attention, sure,” David said. “But it’s got the basics. An old X-ray machine and a machine for doing blood work. We can talk about renovations and supplies after you sign the paperwork. The food processing building is next door…”
If I had been horrified by the vet’s office, the food processing building was the equivalent of a horror movie. It was as big as a garage, with concrete floors and a wall of industrial freezers. Upon entering I was bombarded with the smell of rotten meat. Black flies swarmed throughout the space, and the ground was stained red where meat had been processed and not cleaned after. There was a table with a butcher’s band saw, and the blade was caked with dark red. I struggled not to choke, and even David had to cover his mouth.
“We need to do a better job of sanitizing the place,” he admitted. “But everything in the freezer is fresh. We get two deliveries a week from our supplier.”
“There’s no safety guard on that saw,” I pointed out.
“Huh.” He frowned at the machine. “Guess you’re right. Might need to fix that.”
“David,” called a man outside. “You in here?”
“I’m showing her the food processing,” David replied, walking toward the door.
I followed him, certain that I was going to meet Crazy Carl himself. The voice sounded identical to the one in the commercials. But the man outside couldn’t have been further from the zoo’s crazy persona. For one thing, he was younger by at least twenty years. He was around the same age as me. He looked a lot like David in the face, except his brown hair was longer and a little messier, and he wasn’t as jacked as David. He had soft blue eyes and long eyelashes, and he was a few inches shorter than the other man.
“This is my younger brother, Anthony,” David said.
“I’m the one you emailed with,” he said as he shook my hand. Unlike his brother, he wore jeans and a blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up. Like he had just come from casual Friday at the office. He was as handsome as his brother, but in a less muscular way. Although the way his clothes fit him hinted at a good body underneath. “Welcome to our zoo. It still feels weird saying that. What do you think of the place?”
“It’s… something,” I said with a forced smile.
Anthony smiled, and then turned to his brother. “Hey. I wanted to talk to you about the social media stuff…”
They put their heads together and started discussing something about Facebook. I covered my nose and returned to the food processing building, side-stepping inside the door so they couldn’t see me. I pulled out my phone and began taking photos.
My internal rage was ready to boil over. It was one thing to keep the animals in cages, and to do a poor job of maintaining them. I had seen that before, and I was mentally prepared for it when I came here today.
But the food processing building drove me over the edge. This was totally unsanitary. Big cats had tougher stomachs than humans, but you still had to keep the food preparation areas sanitary. The amount of flies in that room was abhorrent, and the visible bacteria growth on the tables and ground…
It made me furious. These people didn’t care about animals at all. They couldn’t even be bothered to do the bare minimum to treat them well. How could people do this to these amazing, graceful, beautiful animals?
Everything Ashley had told me was true. This place was terrible.
The two brothers were still chatting outside. I pulled my cell phone out and began snapping photos. Of the ground, the tables, and the flies buzzing in the air.
I heard snippets of the conversation outside, but one sentence caught my attention. “…with the breeding, and all the cubs sold away…” Anthony was saying.
It was the final straw. I marched outside and confronted the two men. “Breeding! You’re admitting to the breeding and sale of tiger cubs?”
Anthony frowned at me. “Well, it appears so. Tiger cub sales are a large revenue stream…”
David pointed. “Are you taking photos?”
Thinking quickly, I switched to a video and hit record. “Everything I’ve heard about this zoo is true! The enclosures are poorly maintained, sanitation is a problem, the food prep area is a disaster… this place isn’t about taking care of animals. It’s about making money at their expense.”
The two brothers looked at each other. “No argument here,” Anthony said with a chuckle.
David held up a hand. “How about we put the phone down and talk about this…”
I practically screamed at them. “People like you do more harm than good. Breeding tigers in captivity, selling the cubs to private owners who have no idea what they’re doing, sedating the animals so teenage girls can take selfies with them to put on Instagram. I’m going to show this to everyone!”