Lion and the Lambo: cub rescued from Lamborghini on Paris Champs-Elysees, in bizarre bling-bling selfie fad
- The cub named Putin was less than two months old and would likely have died had police not intervened when they spotted it on Monday, carers says
- Activists say big cat cubs are being widely used as props in social media photos involving sports cars
When Paris police officers found a lion cub in a Lamborghini during a traffic stop this week, they exposed the tip of what animal campaigners say is a bizarre and disturbing new trend: people buying or renting cubs to use as props in bling-bling selfies.
The male cub, named Putin but known as Dadou, is less than two months old and likely would have died of poor care had police not stopped the luxury sports car Monday on the Champs-Elysees and rescued the cat, according to 30 Million Friends, the French animal protection NGO now caring for it.
“There are hundreds of babies going around like this illegally,” the group’s president, Reha Hutin, said in an Associated Press interview Wednesday. “You can buy a cub for less than a dog. It costs 300 euros (US$340) and so they buy them off circuses.”
“It’s really a disaster,” she said. “They get these babies and they take selfies with them on social media.”
Hutin believes the fad spread to France from Arabian Gulf countries.