Posted on 04/14/2005 2:07:10 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
SAN ANTONIO - The human finger retrieved from a bowl of Wendy's chili in California may have come from a Nevada woman who had a digit bitten off by a pet leopard there in February, an animal rescuer asserted Wednesday.
Wild Animal Orphanage Director Carol Asvestas said she witnessed the biting while on a rescue mission in Pahrump, Nev., and provided Wendy's with photographs she took before and after the Feb. 23 incident.
Police in San Jose, Calif., where a lawsuit was filed against a Wendy's franchise and later withdrawn, are following up on the information Asvestas provided, according to media reports there. Earlier this week, police in Las Vegas searched the home of Anna Ayala, 39, who sued after claiming she bit into the finger on March 22 while in San Jose.
"We're talking to the woman who lost the finger," San Jose police spokeswoman Gina Tepoorten told the Associated Press. But the wire service also quoted Ayala's son as saying his mother doesn't know that woman.
Seeing a similarity
Asvestas said she called a Wendy's hot line on Tuesday to report her suspicion, which arose when a co-worker showed her a news photograph of the finger from the Wendy's chili. It was similar to photos Asvestas took of the finger bitten off by a leopard moments after its caretaker bragged about how it could be safely petted.
Asvestas said she was in Nevada to retrieve 10 large cats from an exotic animal facility that was closing.
While traveling, she got a call from a woman she identified as Sandy Allman, who said she was having trouble caring for her fiance's animals while he was away.
"The facility was really appalling and the animals were very emaciated, covered in urine burns," she said, adding that she then agreed to relocate them to her sanctuary in San Antonio.
"During the process of her showing us around, we were taken from cage to cage and she was petting on all the animals ... I did make a point of telling her this is something we do not condone and we don't do it at the sanctuary because of the safety issue," Asvestas said. "She made a statement as she was getting to the leopard cage that 'these are my babies. They would never hurt me. They would never hurt anybody else. They've been hand-raised.'
"And with that said, her hand went into the leopard cage and the leopard jumped up and took one bite and bit her finger clean off at the first joint ... . The finger ended up inside the leopard cage and the leopard was using it as a toy."
'My alarm bells went off'
After taking photographs of the severed digit, Asvestas said she helped Allman seek medical attention at two clinics before Allman was taken to a hospital.
Four days later, Asvestas said Allman informed her the finger could not be reattached. She returned to San Antonio without seeing the woman again.
"Ultimately my alarm bells went off and I just decided to call Wendy's and forward the pictures to them. Somebody called me back and said they had forwarded the information for investigation to the San Jose police and they would be calling me in a few days," Asvestas said.
A spokesman for San Jose police could not be reached for comment. Police in Las Vegas deferred comment to them. There was no phone listing in Nevada for Allman.
john.gonzalez@chron.com
This scam is most entertaining. Better that Michael Jackson. This crazy woman has forced her daughter to be her partner in crime. One of her previous lawsuits was over her daughter getting sick at some fast food place. Can't say if she got money from it.
For this scam she had her daughter put her arm in a sling and claim she was injured when the police raided her Las Vegas condo for evidence.
I don't know who's stupider, the woman that lost the finger because she thought the leopard was safe, or the woman that thought that she could get away with fraud with her history.
Wendy's finger finder won't sue; police check leopard attack link http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/11388750.htm
How long did Ana Ayala stew that finger in her chili pot at home before taking it to Wendy's?
Poor leopards.
So this story in raising the possibility of a scam involving a woman in San Antonio and a woman in Nevada, correct? Supposedly they do not know each other. It would be interesting to see how this one develops.
Ok. I re-read the story. All three women's names start with A - that was confusing enough. Now it appears that the woman suing is from Nevada, the woman that had her finger bitten off is also from Nevada. The article is coming out of San Antonio.
They don't belong in jail.
Thanks for the picture.
She was exposed by a real Viking Kittie, eh? : )
That's funny!
Well when you raise leopards on hands, you have to expect they'll see yours as food.
That was a hold my beer and watch this moment.
No kidding.
Oops!
There's no such thing as a tame leopard.
........"The facility was really appalling and the animals were very emaciated, covered in urine burns," ........
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