Cougar Attacks 4-Year Old Child At Birthday Party

62-pound cougar has been euthanized
It did not have rabies
Victim has undergone several plastic surgeries

CORAL GABLES - A day that should have been sheer joy for a little girl turned into a nightmare when she was attacked by a cougar at a birthday party.

The 62-pound cougar, named Georgia, was brought to the party by the Kendall-based company “Wild Animal World”, which was hired by Francisco Unanue, an executive with Goya Foods, for his child’s birthday party on November 18th.
The party was held near the pool at Unanue's Coral Gables home on the 7300 block of Los Pinos Blvd., but it ended badly when Georgia mauled a 4-year-old guest.

According to police reports and our news partners at The Miami Herald, the president of the company, Corinne Oltz, was showing the children the cougar. She warned the children to remain seated and calm but a four year old girl snuck up from behind and startled the big cat.

The declawed cat attacked the child and bit her on the face and head. The child suffered multiple lacerations and puncture wounds and a portion of her ear was severed. She’s already undergone plastic surgery to help repair her injuries from the mauling.

According to The Herald, Wild Animal World has been cited in two similar past attacks and faces a misdemeanor charge of allowing injury to the public.

Georgia was euthanized last week as part of a rabies test which came back negative, sparing the child painful rabies shots.

Dan Dolan, the attorney of the injured girl told The Herald, "The family wants this to be the last child who is attacked by these animals."

"We feel that Wild Animal World has a horrible history of these kinds of events and we're going to do whatever we can to make sure this is the last one." Dolan told The Herald.

The entire attack was videotaped by a man hired by Unanue to film the party for his 7-year-old child, however, Unanue's attorney, Frank M. Smith, has not allowed authorities access to the tape, according to The Herald.

The attack is being investigated by Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is also examining whether Oltz keeps her animals caged properly. Miami-Dade County also is looking at whether Oltz carries the proper permits.

Click here to see the original story and related video from Miami's CBS4.com