Mexico: Stripped of her teeth and claws, and covered in wounds: Heartbreaking images of lioness who died after being kept in appalling conditions by her cruel owner

MEXICO -- A lioness that had been found living in a mechanic's workshop in Mexico suffered such appalling treatment by her owner that she died from her injuries.

Eitan Hernandez, 44, had pulled out the lioness' teeth and claws in order to keep her as a pet in his workshop in Tlaquepaque, in the central-western Mexican state of Jalisco.

The lioness, christened Madonna by her cruel owner, weighed just 88lbs, less than a third of a normal adult lioness, and had open wounds on her back and legs.

  

 

A lion has an average lifespan of 29 in the wild, and around 13 in captivity. According to papers found in Mr Hernandez's home, Madonna was 19 when she was rescued

Madonna was rescued along with a lynx by officials from local animal rights group, Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa).

Profepa had managed to find a new home for Madonna in the United States, but the lioness was unable to recover from her injuries and died.

'The animal was in an appalling condition and being kept in an entirely inappropriate location,' Profepa spokesman Eugen Lozada Zamudio said.

'It was not only suffering from malnutrition and severely underweight, but it also had open wounds on its back and on its legs. In many places it had lost large patches of hair, and worst of all we found that at some stage its claws and its incisors had been pulled out presumably to make it less likely to harm its owners.'

Mr Zamudio added: 'She had difficulty walking because she had been in a cramped space for so long. The lynx which we recovered was also having difficulty moving because in contrast to the lion it seemed to have eaten too much and was severely overweight.'

Both animals had been transferred to the Biopark Rescue Unit Coexistence Pachuca where vets tried to bring them back to health. The lynx is reportedly doing better.

The African lion is classified as an endangered species in Mexico for which paperwork is needed, and Eitan Hernandez may face a fine over his treatment of Madonna the lion and the lynx.

It is not the first time Mexican authorities have recovered an animal without claws and teeth.

Earlier in the year a bear named Invictus died after he was recovered from a circus cage and found to have lost his jaw through an infection caused by the fact his teeth had been pulled out.

(Daily Mail - Jan 25, 2015)