UK strongman Martyn Ford hits back after he’s slammed for tug of war with liger
One of the strongest Brits on the planet is in hot water after filming himself having a tug of war with a caged liger while on holiday in Dubai.
Martyn Ford, 40, who is also know as the “World's Scariest Man”, posted a video of the strange test of strength with the caged cross between a male lion and a female tiger earlier today on Instagram, but he responded by claiming animals at the zoo are "well looked after".
The awkward video shows the 6'8' actor tugging on a thick rope, while the liger has the other end its mouth.
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He captioned the video with: “Now, this is one hell of a way to train back. I'll be moving over to Dubai soon to start my training camp with my friend.
“Can anyone guess how heavy this liger is? An absolute BEAST of an animal.”
In the back of the video, locals can be seen watching on, filming and enjoying the spectacle as its clear the brute is having a difficult time “winning” the competition.
Despite amassing around 100,000 likes in just over 10 hours, some of Ford's 4.1 million followers were less than happy about the video.
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One wrote: “Love your content usually big man but just find this a bit disheartening.
“Take a step back and think what you’re doing.. poor animal an a cage being made to do tug of war with multiple people a day for a giggle.
“Makes me sad.”
And a second posted: “Love your content usually, but just do a little reading before you promote this kind of thing.
“Most of these animals are farmed or poached and the whole cycle is abusive. Animal tourism is animal abuse.”
A third wrote: “Aw look they got a performing ape to play with that caged tiger.
“Guess they paid enough for you to forget right and wrong.”
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Animal rights campaigners slammed Ford.
Emily Wilson, Head of Campaigns at FOUR PAWS UK said: “We are appalled to see Martyn Ford share this cruel footage with his four million-strong following, and advocate for such abhorrent behaviour against animals.
“Clearly unhappy, uncomfortable, and distressed, he continues to yank on the animal’s rope, ignoring its clear signs of discomfort.
“We urge Martyn to show true strength and champion the rights of those who can’t themselves by deleting the video and pledging to #TravelKind by supporting animal-friendly travel experiences that do not commodify sentient beings.”
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star, Martyn claimed that the animals at the zoo are "well looked after".
He said: "I understand people being concerned over the well fair of animals and I am a huge animal lover, I can assure you these animals are ridiculously well looked after.
"I met the vets, nutritionists and the huge team involved in giving these animals a life of luxury.
"The liger that was playing tug of war was the one who ran over to play – she was excited, happy and extremely playful.
"I would be the first to agree with the punishment and closure of any facility mistreating animal."
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