Blondie The Lion
Children of the world often dream of having exotic pets like dragons, polar bears, and lions, but most never see these dreams come true. However, the family of Texas Oil-Man and rodeo star Charles Edward Hipp got to live out this dream during a childhood that sounds like it was ripped straight from the movie screen. Hipp grew up working in the circus and developed an affinity for unusual pets along way. This led to him having all sorts of second hand zoo animals living in his domicile over the years, as he tried to domesticate all sorts of non-traditional house animals. Some of them didn’t work out, and eventually Hipp gave up on his love of the wild animal kingdom for the safety of his family. However, one pet stayed with Hipp from the time it was twelve weeks old, all the way until the day it passed away; that pet was Blondie the Lion.
Hipp purchased her from the zoo when she was just a cub, and raised her as part of his family. He took her on rides in the family station wagon, watched television next to her, bathed her in the tub, and let her have free reign of his home. Despite the animals natural instincts as a predator, her love for Hipp and his family proved more powerful, and she never once even snapped at anyone. She was basically the family dog, but…you know…a safari cat. She was a member of the Hipp family, and she proves that sometimes love is stronger than nature. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how wild a cat is, the love of a good family can tame it.
