Photo: 30 Million Friends / ABCNews.com
If you’ve got it, flaunt it. If you don’t have it just yet, buy it – and then make sure to flaunt it. Animal rescue NGO 30 Million Friends is warning of a new, dangerous trend that’s sweeping social media: posing with lion cubs in expensive cars.
The trend is coming from Gulf states and is now hitting France and other European countries. Just this week, French police arrested a Lamborghini driver in Paris, on the famous Champs-Elysees, with a 2-month lion cub on the dashboard, ABC News reports.
The bust happened during a traffic stop, with police pulling the driver over when they noticed the feline in the front of the bright green car. Consequently, the driver was arrested, the car impounded and the lion rescued by 30 Million Friends, the report notes.
Its name is Putin and it is in relative good health, though a checkup revealed a minor issue with one of its rear paws and a broken tail. Still, 30 Million Friends notes, it would have died soon from improper care because the man who bought it didn’t do it because he wanted to care for it as a pet. Lion cubs and other feline cubs are the hottest commodity in selfie-bling, the organization says.
Rich people are buying them from circuses, which are breeding the animals to have a constant supply of cubs. Ironically, they’re cheaper than a dog with a pedigree: anyone can get one for as little as 300 euro, provided they have the right connections or the time to do a little digging around on the Internet. The cubs are used for photo-ops in flashy cars while they’re still young and cuddly, and later abandoned when they become too much of a hassle.
Only this month, 30 Million Friends rescued 3 cubs used like this, the report says. In a previous lawsuit brought by the organization against one such owner, a judge sentenced the man to 6 months in jail for importing an exotic animal. They hope Putin’s owner gets the same, once they have filed the papers and the trial is set in motion.
The bust happened during a traffic stop, with police pulling the driver over when they noticed the feline in the front of the bright green car. Consequently, the driver was arrested, the car impounded and the lion rescued by 30 Million Friends, the report notes.
Its name is Putin and it is in relative good health, though a checkup revealed a minor issue with one of its rear paws and a broken tail. Still, 30 Million Friends notes, it would have died soon from improper care because the man who bought it didn’t do it because he wanted to care for it as a pet. Lion cubs and other feline cubs are the hottest commodity in selfie-bling, the organization says.
Rich people are buying them from circuses, which are breeding the animals to have a constant supply of cubs. Ironically, they’re cheaper than a dog with a pedigree: anyone can get one for as little as 300 euro, provided they have the right connections or the time to do a little digging around on the Internet. The cubs are used for photo-ops in flashy cars while they’re still young and cuddly, and later abandoned when they become too much of a hassle.
Only this month, 30 Million Friends rescued 3 cubs used like this, the report says. In a previous lawsuit brought by the organization against one such owner, a judge sentenced the man to 6 months in jail for importing an exotic animal. They hope Putin’s owner gets the same, once they have filed the papers and the trial is set in motion.
Google News