Tiger attack victim returns to work

CENTER POINT, Ind. — A Streamwood native badly injured in a tiger attack at a western Indiana animal refuge has resumed working part time at the center, saying she loves her job caring for its big cats.

Marissa Dub, 23, suffered severe head, neck and vocal cord injuries in the June 21 attack at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center near Center Point, Ind. She experienced multiple strokes and lost all movement on one side of her face.

But Dub told ABC 7 she’s not angry at the tiger and insists that it was just trying to play when it attacked after she mistakenly left a cage gate open.

In fact, Dub said that she couldn’t wait to leave the hospital to go back and see him to make sure he was all right.

“I love my job,” she said. “I love the relationships with the cats, even if they are bad relationships.”

Dub said that on the day she was attacked she was getting ready to clean a tiger’s pen and put some food out — something she had done many times before. Although she has no memory about what happened next, Dub thinks one of the gates was left open at the center. Rajah the tiger escaped and came at her.

“When they all came, the cat was on me and my head was basically in his mouth,” Dub said.

Kris Dub, Marissa’s mother, said that it’s not surprising that her daughter does not feel any ill will against the tiger that attacked her.

“That’s Marissa,” she said. “Marissa cares about the animals more than she cares about people.”

The Dub family has set up a fund for Marissa to help with her medical bills at BMO Harris Bank.