Bill Foster, a fisherman from Hatteras, North Carolina, and Dr Read, proposed the project because the Pamlico Sound near Hatteras was closed to large-mesh gill nets (which are dragged behind a boat like a curtain) for four months a year because too many turtles were being caught by accident.
The facility, known as Project Survival's Cat Haven, is normally closed on Wednesdays when the attack happened, and only one other worker was present during the mauling.