Zion Wildlife Gardens Lion Man court case updates

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

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new thread following on from http://www.zoochat.com/17/lion-man-losing-licence-28369/ which had to be locked.

Basically the main point here relevant to the ongoing story is "Meanwhile Craig's date with the employment relations court has been postponed. He was supposed to appear in court on Tuesday [this article was posted on Sunday 1 Jan] to fight to be reinstated at Zion, but the hearing was postponed. A new date is yet to be set"

Lion man pursues lions' share - New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz
The Lion Man star Craig Busch is pressing on with plans to claw back control of Zion Wildlife Gardens.

As well as turning to auction website eBay to raise funds by auctioning off signed photos of himself and the big cats, he has now uploaded a video on his official Facebook page asking fans to make donations so he can take back the park from his mum Patricia.

Patricia took up residence at the park in July 2006. She raised a loan to repay Craig's company and his personal debt, and in return was given power of attorney and sole directorship until he could repay her.

But their relationship soured so much Craig is no longer employed by the park and a court order had to be sought to allow him to come and go from the property at Kamo, outside Whangarei.

In the Facebook video, Craig convicted in May 2007 of assaulting his former partner and TV show co-star, Karen Greybrook, in 2005 urges viewers to go to his personal website to donate to his cause.

"Thank you for your support. I'm very grateful," he says. "Help from you guys is needed. Please help by making a donation. Go to nzlionman.com, thank you."

Support has been flowing in for the star from the United Kingdom since his situation became public knowledge.

Fans have left messages of support on his Facebook page and one has set up an online petition that has more than 700 signatures.

UK fan Kelly Flaherty was so outraged she decided to set up the petition calling on "the owners and directors of Zion Wildlife Gardens (NZ) to reinstate the lion man Craig Busch and allow him access to the animals he loves and who love him".

Kelly told Sunday News: "The people who have signed the petition, joined the Facebook group, donated money and sent messages of support are not naive.

"They all have internet access and therefore access to the countless articles, news reports and blogs that have been written about Craig's personal and professional life.

"They, like me, choose to support him because of the wonderful work he has done and must continue doing with the animals of Zion Wildlife Gardens. I am hoping that in some small way this petition will help Craig return to Zion. If it makes no difference at all then at least Craig will know that people on the other side of the world care about him a great deal."

Meanwhile Craig's date with the employment relations court has been postponed. He was supposed to appear in court on Tuesday to fight to be reinstated at Zion, but the hearing was postponed.

A new date is yet to be set.
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Wonderful work he does, yeah right, "please come and sign my petition for ******"...
 
NZ Jeremy said:
Wonderful work he does, yeah right, "please come and sign my petition for ******"...
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Yep i agree just realy sad that alot of them seem to be people from the U.K that are signing his petition but then again if they believe that White Tigers are an endangered species this country of mine must have more VILLAGE IDIOTS than i thought.
 
Some people are just sheep, follow their friends and their friends and the populations actions. Bah!
( bah........)
 
Probably a bit late in the piece here. My blog was over run today from Facebook. Where from - the Lion Man page. I've been blogging the media updates on the courtcase as I've gone. I had a read of their forum...enough said already. so far no obsessed trolls to day.
 
Hi there

my blog URL is Goings on at the Mad Bush Farm

Scroll down to the bottom of the blog page on the left hand side is the feedjit reader if you click onto it near the bottom it will take you to the page where you can see where people have come from. I'm on facebook. Craig Busch has this huge fan site..6000 so far. All of course from the UK maybe one or two from NZ but that's about it. Madness...
 
I wasn't aware of this whole fiasco until today :eek: It's quite a shocking read really.

I haven't seen very many of the Lion Man programmes (they only seem to be aired as fillers on some nobody TV channel here, so they're on rarely and I normally miss them). I did think that the enclosures were small and the fencing flimsy. His championing, if that is the right word, of white tigers (not so much white lions, as there seems to be several pockets of those) was a bit disturbing, considering that they're inbred mutants, for lack of a better description. You (or at least I) would have thought that he'd know better.

However, both complaints said, I thought he had a very good relationship with the animals.
 
This issue has been going on for some months. MAF are still investigating the declawing of a majority of the big cats in Zion's care as well as the Veterinarian that performed the procedures. I'm about to write a blog post on this subject. Short of extreme medical reasons declawing in New Zealand is illegal. I also found this very interesting thread one of the people who posted on it used to work at Zion Wildlife Gardens while Craig was still in charge Lion Man - Kiwi Pride ?? - Better Living Forums. the picture he paints is not a pretty tale like on those TV programmes. Personally I don't believe animals should be used for entertainment. And basically this is exactly what has been going on. I've had some trolls now and then made stupid comments on some of the posts I've put up. They get deleted.:D

I stand corrected. Declawing isn't illegal as such but is referred to as a Restricted Surgical Procedure. However the veterinarian must ensure it is for the benefit of the animal/s concerned http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/legislation/animal-welfare-act/guide/index.htm#care
 
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I'm surprised I missed it-the issue must've never cropped up here in the UK, othwerwise I would have seen it in the paper. I haven't read your blog yet, though I plan to in the morning.

Declawing is despicable :mad: You don't tear the nails out of children, so why do it to animals? I'd ban the vet who did it from practising, but then I am a bit of an extremist!

As for animals for entertainment, I'm not in favour of a blanket ban, since some animals seem to have a natural liking for showing off and learning to do tricks, etc. I guess it's like with people really, some are actors, others are watchers :) It's when they try and force the latter to join in that I get mad.
 
I'd be banning the vet who did it as well. In this case the procedures were totally un-necessary. I wondered if it had been reported in the UK. Of course not Craig is a hero in the eyes of his fans. Animals for entertainment..well that depends. There is a move though to have performing animals taken out of circuses etc. If you're on Facebook do a search for Craig Busch or The Lion Man then read the comments. Interesting. I'm just researching the declawing issue now then I'll get the blog post done. I should be editing a newspaper at the moment instead of being here. I like this forum.:)
 
I had been wondering about the legality of declawing cats.

The Lion Man saga has been discussed on various forums overseas, including UK, but not in a big way I don't think. Most people over there seem to simply go by what they see on the tv show and conveniently ignore all contrary information, whereas in NZ we see a lot of it on the news
 
I thought at first it was illegal which was why I talked through a hole in my head then did the homework afterwards. No the issue of declawing is frowned upon or MAF wouldn't be investigating. Very very painful procedure. I've just finished the blog post on it Goings on at the Mad Bush Farm: Declawing - a sore point I may end up with a whole heap of Lion Man blog trolls coming on because of it. Comment if you want. The comments are open just not the anonymous user part. Here's to the blog trolls.LOL
 
Well at least one person in the U.K doesn`t believe all the **** he say in the Lion Man series on TV and i`ve seen quite a few now,as far as i can see the Man is an accident waiting to happen the problem been he probably wont be one that get`s hurt or killed when it happens.
 
zoogiraffe said:
Well at least one person in the U.K doesn`t believe all the **** he say in the Lion Man series on TV and i`ve seen quite a few now,as far as i can see the Man is an accident waiting to happen the problem been he probably wont be one that get`s hurt or killed when it happens.
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Make that two people
 
Exactly there are people out there that see right through him. Heck I'm just an hours drive away from the park. At $60 to get in it will be a while before I do get there. Add my kids there's $100 gone just like that. What gets me despite all the falling out Zion continues to cash in on their former bosses name - go figure
 
Chlidonias said:
The Lion Man saga has been discussed on various forums overseas, including UK, but not in a big way I don't think. Most people over there seem to simply go by what they see on the tv show and conveniently ignore all contrary information, whereas in NZ we see a lot of it on the news
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of course I was not referring to the people who frequent this forum :)
 
I have to agree I feel he is giving the wrong message to a lot of people in the Uk and all over the world about white tigers, its more like a place which makes him famous, lack of space, without allowing the animals to roam in their natural habitats. I feel sorry for those animals, taking cubs away from mothers at 10days thats un natural and wrong!
 
Few White tigers bred are ever actually desirable for public display. I read recently that more White tigers are being bred that the true coloured ones. I thought the aim was for all tigers to be preserved not just those that look pretty - makes me wonder with some of these places. I was reading Craig's face book page. Someone had emailed a park in Kent asking them to support Craig in getting Zion Park back. The reply was they didn't agree with his hands on approach nor were they going to get involved with the family dispute. I'm waiting for a reply from Zion on something else other than the dispute. They have some Serval Cats there. No reply means I'll then put on my media hat and use their media liason instead.
 
madbushfarm said:
Few White tigers bred are ever actually desirable for public display. I read recently that more White tigers are being bred that the true coloured ones. I thought the aim was for all tigers to be preserved not just those that look pretty - makes me wonder with some of these places. I was reading Craig's face book page. Someone had emailed a park in Kent asking them to support Craig in getting Zion Park back. The reply was they didn't agree with his hands on approach nor were they going to get involved with the family dispute. I'm waiting for a reply from Zion on something else other than the dispute. They have some Serval Cats there. No reply means I'll then put on my media hat and use their media liason instead.
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I have to agree there is only a 1 in 10% for getting a true white tiger and those that are being bred are almost mutants. Some of them are of but the majority suffer severe illness hip displasia etc. I feel sorry for all the tiger farms etc. I feel the fact that zion is still there with a range of cats that are close to my heart upsets me, I hope he doesnt get zion back itll turn into some circus act
 
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