David Belac and his former girlfriend Jennifer-Ann Cowles convinced Madam Justice Jean MacFarland that they had not ignored posted warnings to keep their car windows closed as they drove through the African Lion Safari park near Hamilton on April 19, 1996.
In a ruling issued on Thursday in Hamilton, the judge said the park should be held "strictly liable for damages resulting from such display" of wild predators like Bengal tigers.
She awarded Belac $1.7 million and Cowles $813,000.
The couple argued that their windows were closed prior to the attack. They were opened, they said, when a tiger bumped the car, startling Belac and causing him to accidentally hit the switches for the automatic windows.
One 113-kilogram tiger reached in a window and mauled both Belac and Cowles. Two others tried to climb in while the couple struggled with the first.
Belac, an accomplished accordion player, was bitten on both arms, his right arm suffering muscle, tendon and nerve damage.
Cowles was an exotic dancer at the time, and argued the injuries she suffered and the scars they left ended her career as a "feature" dancer and curtailed her ability to make money as a stripper.
She has since finished high school and is working to support the elderly.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Raw stories about bullying emerged when a video booth was set up inside a Quebec high school. more »
- Serial carjacker gets life term for fatal crash
- An Ontario judge was moved to tears while delivering a life prison sentence to a serial carjacker who killed a woman and injured five others after driving a stolen van into her car during a 2010 police chase. more »
Latest Canada News Headlines
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- The estranged partner of a young mother who was stabbed to death along with her parents at their home in Aylmer, Que., has been charged with first-degree murder Friday. more »
- Forest fires still burning near Timmins, Ont.
- A new forest fire is burning north of Highway 101 near Timmins, Ont., creating a new challenge for firefighters who have been working to contain another fire in the area. more »
- RCMP to close labs in Halifax, Winnipeg, Regina
- The RCMP is closing forensic laboratories in Halifax, Winnipeg and Regina and consolidating them with three others in a move the force says will lead to faster, more efficient service. more »
- Small plane crashes on lake near Cochrane, Ont.
- The Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a team to investigate after an Air Cochrane plane crashed on Lillabelle Lake just north of Cochrane, Ont. Friday afternoon. more »
The National
The Current
- What does it take to get fired at the RCMP? May. 25, 2012 5:02 PM After a senior Mountie was demoted for disgraceful conduct including sex with subordinates, exposing himself and drinking on the job, some former employees wonder what you have to do to get fired.
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- Brave cat makes epic leap of faith
- What a Greek euro exit could mean for Canada
- Double-lung recipient dances on Ellen show
