MUST PAY LION’S DOCTOR

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6884, 13 April 1929, Page 3

MUST PAY LION’S DOCTOR

CIRCUS MAN ORDERED TO SETTLE A curious case in which a circus lion figures has just been settled by the Nancy Appeal Court, in north-eastern France. In July, 1927, a German circus visited Nancy, where one of its pet lions, named Sultan, had to be shot, by a keeper in self-defence. The lion was not killed and so a surgeon, Dr. Dennier, was called in to extract the bullet. He did so and then attended other animals belonging to the circus. His bill for medical attendances was 17,850 francs and 15,000 francs for extracting the bullet, or respectively, £144 and £l2O.

The owner of the circus refused to pay the bill declaring that the whole affair was a “publicity stunt” for which he was not responsible, and that, at any rate, Sultan was not worth the 15,000 francs asked for extracting the bullet, particularly as he had subsequently died. The litigation continued, until last year the lower court appointed a commission of veterinary surgeons to investigate. Their report showed that Dr. Dennier had been called in with the full authority of the circus owner, and that the operation had been dangerous “because the practitioner was btiten and clawed by the patient.” The circus proprietor on being ordered to pay up appealed, and the appeal just decided has reduced the doctor’s bill to 10,350 francs, or £BS.