MENDON, Mass. — The transformer fire that knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in Boston turned out to be a stroke of delicious luck for the big cats at a Massachusetts zoo.
The Capital Grille donated 2,500 pounds of steak worth $20,000 to the Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon after the restaurant lost power on Tuesday.
Additional Photos
The prime cuts of meat were no longer fit for human consumption even though they were ushed to a refrigerated truck, according to Hunter Robinson, spokesman for the Capital Grille at the Hynes Convention Center
The zoo’s two Bengal tigers, an African lion and a leopard dined like kings on Thursday. Each ate 15-20 pounds of meat. And there are enough leftovers to feed the cats for weeks to come.
Zoo owner Betsey Brewer tells The Telegram & Gazette she was surprised and delighted by the out-of-the-blue offer from Robinson.
“He said, ‘We lost all our meat,'” Brewer recalled. “They just called here and said, ‘Are you interested?’ and I said, ‘Sure!’ ”
About 21,000 customers lost power after the fire. Almost all customers were back online by Friday.
Southwick’s Zoo opens for the season on April 14.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.