A woman who crawled into a camel’s pen bit the animal’s testicles after it sat on her.
The woman, who has not been named in media reports, entered the pen of Caspar the camel, a roadside attraction at a truck stop in Louisiana, to retrieve her dog. The woman’s husband had been tossing treats for the dog under the camel’s fence for some unknown reason.
The dog crawled under the fence and began reacting to the camel. The woman crawled in after it and shortly after, Caspar, a male dromedary, sat on her. WBRZ reported that Caspar first chased the woman in his pen and pinned her against the wall before sitting on her. Caspar weighed 600 pounds, according to The Washington Post, so the woman was being crushed. To escape, she bit the animal’s testicles.
Fox News reported that the woman was taken to the hospital after the encounter, but it is unclear what injuries she suffered.
Louisiana news outlet The Advocate spoke to Iberville Parish Deputy Louis Hamilton Jr, who said the woman told him, “I bit his balls to get him off of me, I bit his testicles to get him off of me.”
An investigation ensued. It turns out the couple provoked the camel before it sat on the woman. The husband reportedly pushed the camel and swatted it with his hat.
“The camel did nothing wrong,” Hamilton added. “They [the couple] were aggressive. The camel was just doing its normal routine.”
The truck stop just outside Baton Rouge is known for its wild animal attractions. The Advocate reported that Caspar has been part of the attraction for some years. At one point, a tiger was on the premises.
“The camel has never been aggressive, the camel has never gotten out, never caused any issues — in fact, the husband and wife stated before that we’ve been here before and we’ve never had any problems,” Hamilton told the outlet.
The couple was cited for violating local leash laws and criminal trespassing. The truck stop was not held liable since signs are clearly posted telling visitors not to enter the pens.
“My only question to her husband was: ‘Why did you throw the doggy treat under the fence?’” Hamilton told the Advocate. “And he just said, ‘I wasn’t thinking.’”
The truck stop’s manager, Pamela Bossier, told the outlet there hadn’t been any attacks on visitors in the 30 years since the stop started keeping wild animals.
“First of all, they went and trespassed. After they trespassed then they proceed to antagonize something that big,” Bossier told local media.
“He’s really a gentle giant,” she said of Caspar.
She also said Caspar’s behavior was “instinct” because he had been provoked.
“Any animal you provoke, they’re going to strike back,” she told the Advocate, adding that the couple could have asked store employees for help retrieving their dog. She told the Post she watched the situation from security video and that Caspar did not put all his weight on the woman.
The woman is a Florida resident.