Main image via Daily Mail
More and more news about animal cruelty has been surfacing lately around the world with the latest being an elephant dying from eating an explosive filled coconut. Now, a lion cub in Russia is suffering at the hands of criminals.
A lion cub that was separated from its mother when it was just a few weeks old, was reportedly beaten and tortured, and had its hind legs broken so it wouldn’t escape while posing to take pictures with tourists on Russian beaches.
The cub named Simba, suffered severe injuries to his spine and was close to death when he was discovered.
The captors reportedly dumped Simba and left him to starve in a dirty and cold barn in the Dagestan region in Russia after they exploited him.
"He was practically not fed, and for some reason frost water was constantly poured over him," said Yulia Ageeva, who led a rescue mission to save the cub.
Specialist vet Karen Dallakyan said that Simba had suffered “an ocean of pain from humans”, with other injuries like pressure sores, intestinal obstruction and a wasting of muscle to his hind legs.
“Evil photographers break bones like this so that wild predators cannot escape and behave calmly for pictures (with tourists).”
Simba was rescued and operated on and he's now on a journey to recovery and is starting to learn how to walk again.
A video showed Simba painfully struggling to walk as humans encouraged him on and guided him to reuse his legs.
Although Simba is looking healthier now with his coat regrowing, he is now left with permanent deformities.
The vet said that Simba’s recovery was a miracle, especially for a cub that was treated so cruelly.
The heartbreaking incident gained worldwide attention and it even received the attention of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who promised to take action against the animal torturer and the linked associates.
A criminal investigation is reported to be underway and we hope that the culprit behind the terrible actions will be caught.
The criminals might be punished but it will never remove the pain and tragedy Simba went through. Let’s hope the world can start treating animals better and protect them instead of hurting them.
Info via Daily Mail
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