PATTAYA – Following the viral video of a young lioness sitting next to a foreign driver in an open-top Bentley limousine going through a road in Pattaya, police tourist officials have discovered her actual owner.
Miss Pupe, a 38-year-old woman from Ratchaburi Province, came to inform the officers on January 24 that she was the young lioness’s owner. She took officials physically inspect the lion and examine the possession documents at her friend’s Pattaya residence.
The officers inspected it for 30 minutes and concluded that the lion cub was in perfect shape. A microchip was also discovered on the lion’s right shoulder.
Kongkiat Temtamnan, Director of the Office of Conservation Area 2 (Sriracha), stated that lions are controlled wild animals of type A that can be possessed, but only with a licence. The lion’s identity microchip was deemed to be accurate, consistent with papers at the Ban Pong Administrative Office in Ratchaburi Province, and legal.
However, Ms. Pupe was not permitted to relocate the lion. If the procedures are followed, the administrative office in Sriracha must be alerted to inspect the location where the lioness will be housed to ensure that it meets the government’s requirements.
Furthermore, it is inappropriate to transport the lioness cub in an open-top car visible throughout Pattaya City. Lions are dangerous animals that must be kept under control; otherwise, those around them may be in danger.
Ms. Pupe stated that she works in real estate. During this time, her work has been extremely busy. So she contacted a foreign friend who was close to her and enjoyed keeping animals. On the date that the video appears to have been shared on the internet, she had requested a foreign friend to take the lioness to the doctor because the cub did not appear to be comfortable.
The foreign friend took the lion to a vet. She didn’t expect him to take such action, though. She also disapproved of him, claiming that he would bring her problems as she hadn’t finished the paperwork to own the lion; the farm labelled it the wrong gender, which needed to be corrected. His driving with pets also emerged as a video clip, which was widely circulated.
Even though she was confident that she would be able to obtain a licence soon, she was now accused of breaching or failing to comply with the possession reporting requirements. This offence is punished by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.
In addition, she is suspected of having violated the possession regulations, which could penalise her with a six-month prison sentence, a fine of little more than 50,000 baht, or both.
The police revealed that the foreigner shown driving the Bentley limousine while taking a lioness on a sightseeing tour of Pattaya in the video is a 53-year-old Sri Lankan businessman. He returned to his own country on January 22.
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