Tiger Killing

[DocDolittle]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7017901/?GT1=6190

I was just looking around the internet and found this article. I just thought that I would bring this to people's attention. It's about a man who's 'pet' tiger got out of the house and had to be killed to be found. I just want to say that if anyone here knows of a person who is ever thinking of getting some exotic pet(not like guinea pigs or degus, more like monkeys, tigers, jaguars, etc.) please, please, please convince them not to. Animals like these belong in sanctuaries, the wild, and extremely qualified zoos. This article just seriously aggravated me, whoever thought that a large, five hundred pound cat with two inch fangs and claws were morons and all animals should be removed from their household. *Calming down* Alright, just thought I'd share this with you!

[Poohbear]

Eek, that is horrible, I would never get a exotic pet. I am scared of them.

[sofiemuffins]

I saw an article this morning in the paper about this. I'm sicken by the fact that they killed the Tiger and did not tranquilize it. It's sad that someone's idea of a cool pet to have would have this type of out come. Animals like this belong in the wild, that's why I'm totally against the Circus and most Zoos.

[Poohbear]

I know why did they just not tranqulize it and put it in the nearest zoo or put it back in the wild?

[citronsoul]

It's so sad to think that these were kept as pets. I saw a documentary about exotic pets a few months ago. Some rich lady bought her daughter two tigers. The daughter loved them & apparently they all got along great together...until they killed her when she was 13.

I think these people have some illusion that they can "bond" with the animal.

[VoodooJoint]

Originally Posted by Queen B

I know why did they just not tranqulize it and put it in the nearest zoo or put it back in the wild?

Most likely they didn't have tranq guns, couldn’t get close enough to tranq it or the tranqs were ineffective. It could be that humans were in imminent danger from the tiger and killing it was the only option. I'm not certain of any of these things as I didn't read the complete story.

Zoos won't take these tigers. They are usually horrible specimens and worthless to a zoo that only wants perfect specimens so people get the right ideas of what the animals looks and acts like.

Often these "pet tigers" are altered in some way (de-sexed, de-clawed, capped teeth)

They cannot be released back into the wild for several reasons. They have no natural hunting ability as mom never taught them to hunt. They would start to starve. Bringing about big problem #2. They have no real fear of humans as it was raised by humans. The tiger would start to starve since it can't hunt well and would turn to killing farm animals which would bring about human involvement. This would lead to either a human getting killed by the tiger for food or the tiger getting killed by the human to protect his livestock and family.

The only hope for these animals are the big cat sanctuaries. The Sanctuaries are getting crowded.

Please don’t blame the wildlife officials too much. They probably only did what they had to do. It's the person that owned the tiger that should take the full blame.

[Poohbear]

I don't. I am sorry I did not know about any of this stuff or I would not of said anything. Thanks Queenie.

[LiciaMommycott]

I still don't see why they had to kill it (the news story said they had no choice). However, they've been looking for this tiger for days so they could have easily been prepared with tranquilizer guns. There are sanctuaries that take tigers. I don't think it really needed to die.

[DocDolittle]

I don't think it needed to die either, but maybe there were circumstances we didn't know about. I'm just disgusted that someone thinks of these magnificent, though very dangerous, animals as pets. It's simply repulsive. I actually printed this out and put it in my docket. You see, every time I come across an animal welfare type of article I print/rip it out and put it in a small docket I bring in my purse everywhere. That way, when I hear people say, " I wish I could have a monkey for a pet" or "I'm getting a {insert animal here} from a pet store" I can pull out the right article and 'preach' to them about it. I also carry at least three guinea lynx care pamphlets with me in case of a prospective pig owner. I'm such a dork.

[Teria]

The Article says:

"“It’s unfortunate that we had to kill it,� Bernard said. “It’s even more unfortunate that the person who owned it didn’t come forward and alert us immediately. We might have been able to capture it.�"

and

"Trackers had to shoot to kill because a tranquilizer would have taken five to 10 minutes to bring down the animal, Bernard said. They were concerned the animal might attack them or bolt onto a nearby highway."

Just imagine a fully grown tiger jumping right into your car as you happily roll along the highway. Hooray.

[DaCourt]

The article said:

The cat was shot several hundred yards from soccer and baseball fields at the edge of a housing development, said Lorna Bernard, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game.

Then further explained:

Trackers had to shoot to kill because a tranquilizer would have taken five to 10 minutes to bring down the animal, Bernard said. They were concerned the animal might attack them or bolt onto a nearby highway. The animal was killed near Simi Valley, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles.


I hate the fact that they had to kill this animal. However, I big cat like that can cover several hundred yards very quickly. They did what they had to do to protect the people in that community. I live in CA so this has been all over the news here. The owner should be held accoutable.

[lindsey's boys]

The poor tiger. It was its owner's fault. But, yes they had to do what they had to do.