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Scars proved trainer knew the risks
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
© St. Petersburg Times, They wrestled and took naps together on the couch. But during the past 10 years, Vince Lowe's best friend also broke his nose, tore his lip and nearly forced the amputation of his arm. It was part of training Florida cougars, and Lowe knew that even playtime with his show cat, Fubar, could get a little messy. "It takes 2 1/2 years to train one of these animals, and that's a lot of blood, sweat and tears," Lowe told the St. Petersburg Times in an interview several weeks ago. "I got a lot of scars to prove it." Lowe's work with wild cats stemmed from a childhood dream, he said. It also led to his death Tuesday when a gold Siberian tiger plunged through a hole in its cage, pouncing on Lowe. Always aware of the danger, Lowe, 49, started taking in Florida cougars in 1992 after getting a state license to house the cats as pets. It had been four years since the couple moved to Hernando County. Before that, they lived in Tampa and Zephyrhills. "We needed room," said his widow, Christine, a customer-service agent with a Tampa insurance company. Fubar became Lowe's companion. He bought Fubar in 1992 from a man whose license was about to be taken away for neglecting his cougars. Lowe acquired other abused or neglected cougars confiscated by the state for similar reasons. He refused to breed pets for the public, he said, because many caretakers get overwhelmed and neglect the cats. For the past decade, he used Fubar to spread knowledge about the animals. He could be seen with Fubar's mouth around his head at an Oldsmar flea market, a Dade City powwow, state folk festivalsand schools around Florida. He averaged 10 shows a year. But it wasn't about money, he quickly pointed out. "I don't make s--- off the shows," Lowe said during the interview. He said it cost him about $7,000 to get a cat ready for shows, which then only paid about $3,000 each. Fubar rode in Lowe's white pickup truck and stayed with the Lowes in their motel rooms. When Lowe had a heart attack about six years ago, Fubar watched over him and wouldn't let anyone near his trainer. It took some persuading by Lowe's assistant to get Fubar away so paramedics could get to him. Called on by big cat owners around the state to help remove the animals from homes, Lowe and his methods were considered unorthodox, said his most recent assistant, Lesa Lucas of Ridge Manor. Not everyone teaches their cats to bite, she said. Lowe's technique -- including biting the cougar back -- called for teaching the animal an "appropriate" level of biting so it wouldn't rip off a limbwhen it chose to sink fangs into flesh. "He's one of the greatest trainers," she said. Lowe was not afraid of the cats. In the interview, Lowe laughed when he told of how gangrene set into his arm after Fubar bit him three times within the past year. "I needed three surgeries in seven days to save the arm," he said. Christine Lowe hadn't wanted her husband working with tigers. He had hoped to acquire an additional state license that would allow him to handle the bigger cats. Tigers are much bigger than the 110-pound Fubar -- and more aggressive, she said. "We had words about that," she said. "We knew what cougars could do. Tigers are a whole different story." Yet, Lowe always knew he'd be killed the way he lived -- working with wild cats, his wife and assistant said. When asked about that several weeks ago, Lowe said: "You're going to get hurt. It's just (a question of) how bad."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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