What drives people to bring deadly animals into their homes? What dangerous mix of obsession, loneliness and desire causes them to live with animals that have the potential to kill?
Premiering on April 6, Animal Planet’s new series Fatal Attractions will bring stories of wild pet ownership to highlight how just one mistake could result in devastating consequences. This gripping series will examine the most extraordinary pet attacks of recent years — incidents in which people living with tigers, wolf-dogs and snakes suddenly become their prey.
The 13-part series will air every Wednesday at 8 pm from April 6 on Animal Planet.
It is a basic instinct for humans to want to love and be loved. But for some, this basic desire can take them into obsessive and dangerous territory when it comes to living with wild animals.
Fatal Attractions will delve deeply into the psychological and emotional drivers that make some people get too close to animals that are best left in the field.
Mixing drama, documentary and expert testimony and as compelling as a thriller, each episode will focus on a different group of animals revealing the psychological drive that compels people bring them into their homes, how the relationship develops and why, ultimately, these animals attack.
Some of the incidents in the series are:
THE DEADLIEST SHOW ON EARTH
In 1974, at the age of 27, Wayne Franzen quit his job, pooled his entire life savings and bought a two-ton Asian elephant. With no prior experience of exotic animals he taught himself how to train a host of deadly creatures. Two decades later, Wayne would lose his life in front of a horrified audience.
A BUFFALO RIDES SHOTGUN
Ronnie Donah would pay the ultimate price for trusting his beloved pet whitetail buck and entering its enclosure during the rutting season, when the animal becomes a deadly “testosterone fuelled missile.” And for all his ambition and hard work, Bob Wiley lacked experience when it came to handling his newly acquired bull. One simple mistake left him fighting for his life.
MY SISTER THE LION
A romantic relationship built around a collection of lions and tigers creates a false sense of security for Tania Dumstrey-Soos. The comfort she feels around them leads the 32-year-old to her death, mauled by a tiger and witnessed by her young son. And lion owner Charles Peters is forced to kill his beloved pet lion Sheba in order to save the life of his human daughter.
THERE’S A CROCODILE IN MY BED
Despite the fearsome power and predatory instincts of the saltwater crocodile, there are some in Australia who keep them as pets. Francis Mauriks keeps two 10-foot “salties” in a shed in his backyard and Vicky Lowing shares her suburban home with three pet crocodiles, one of whom she takes for drives in the car and another that lives in the bath.
A TIGER LOOSE IN HARLEM
In 2003, a 500-pound tiger is removed from a Harlem apartment after attacking owner Antoine Yates. In the Nevada desert, Vietnam vet Karl Mitchell lives with an entire pride of tigers, while William Olsen’s tiger tale ends in tragedy. Most of us would never invite a tiger into our homes, so what makes these individuals different?
SNAKES IN A TRAILER
This episode tells the story of Anita Finch, whose tragic childhood led to a passion for nature, one that developed into a deadly obsession with venomous snakes. And Ed Cassano shares his home with 40 snakes, and despite a near-death experience, continues to indulge in his fascination for lethal reptiles. What drives people like Anita and Ed to ignore the dangers of their desires?
m bngexpresso@expressbuzz.com