In some parts of the world, animals are treated like garbage. People see them as a way to engage audiences and turn them into profits. Because animals that fall into the hands of these criminals will stop at nothing to extract as much money as they can from these animals, the helpless creatures are beaten, abused, and neglected until they lose all hope in the future and become subjected to, what psychologists refer to as, learned helplessness – it means the animals feel they can do nothing to change their current circumstances.
One owner of a lion cub thought it would be great to turn the animal into a money-making scheme. Because he could get tourists to pay a lot of money to take a photo with the lion, he set out to make it easy for tourists to take these photos. That’s why the abuser broke the lion’s legs. This ensured it would never be able to escape or use its paws to harm a tourist taking a photo with it.
This lion cub was stolen away from his mother and then used to extract money from unknowing tourists. The animal was treated with no dignity and given no respect. It was hardly given enough food to sustain its growing body.
Not only were the animal’s legs broken, but the handler also snapped the lion cub’s spine to prevent it from ever escaping. By breaking the bones in the lion’s body, the handler ensured that the cub would be forever dependent on its handler for everything. This dependency made it much easier to manage the wild animal and to subdue it just enough to get a lot of pictures taken every day.
Fortunately, the cub was rescued by someone with a heart. However, before this rescue, the animal was kept locked away in a Russian barn where its owner would beat it often and force it to take photos with paying customers.
The animal rescuers renamed the lion, Simba, after the main character in Disney’s Lion King. Although Simba’s story has gained a lot of traction online and people want him to succeed, it was a Russian vet named Karen Dallakyan who gets most of the credit for saving the cat’s life. Karen, a man, has saved many animals that were very close to death.
Because Simba now has Karen in his corner, he is getting a new chance to live his life. Before he was rescued, Simba never knew joy. Now, he gets to play a lot. This is not only fun for the animal, but it is also a great way to rehabilitate him.
When Simba was first rescued from the remote Russian barn, he was a wreck. He did not trust human beings. Now that he has been under the care of Karen and other animal rescue workers, he is doing much better. It was reported that Simba is near full recovery. Perhaps, he will be transported to a lion sanctuary when he is well and be able to live a better life than he was while imprisoned by an evil Russian animal handler.