The Wife Of An Exotic Pet Dealer Killed By A Pet Bear Named Teddy
Adobe StockKeepers of exotic animals usually have separate areas of cages to keep the animals in while they clean.
Kelly Ann Walz and her husband Michael had a hilltop menagerie near Allentown, Pennsylvania where they kept numerous wild animals including an African lion, a cougar, a jaguar, a tiger, a leopard, and two servals.
But of all the dangerous animals they kept, the most beloved was their black bear, Teddy.
Lamentably, Teddy also proved to be their most deadly.
On Oct. 5, 2009, The Seattle Times reported that Kelly Ann Walz’s body had been found inside Teddy’s cage, not far away from Teddy’s own dead body.
The Walzes had raised Teddy for nine years, from cubhood to adulthood, at their home and kept him in a 15-by-15-foot steel and concrete cage.
They had reportedly never had an incident with an animal before and generally handled their pets safely, tossing food into one end of the cage while they cleaned to keep the animals at bay.
Kelly Ann Walz was cleaning Teddy’s cage the day he turned on her.
“She’s done it 1,000 times,” said the Walz’s friend and neighbor, Scott Castone. “And on 1,001, something happened.”
Castone’s children saw the 350-pound bear attack Walz from their home, about a football field’s length away from the Walz’s, and began screaming for help.
Adobe StockWalz’s licenses had lapsed, but the Game Commission noted that this was simply a “technicality” and prior inspections of the property found no problems.
By the time Scott Castone arrived at his neighbor’s property with his handgun, Kelly Ann Walz was dead, and Teddy was walking out of the cage.
Castone opened fire.
“He got off of her to come out to me,” Castone said. “I did what anyone would do. It was pretty much self-defense.”
Tim Conway, a supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said that most people who keep wild animals generally have two-section cages so they can isolate the animal while cleaning. For some reason, Kelly Ann Walz neglected to do this.
“Why this woman chose to go in the same area that the bear was in is beyond me. It’s a fatal mistake,” he said. “These things are not tame animals; they’re wild animals.”
