Before we begin, did you read this headline and automatically assume it happened in Florida? Me too.
But unfortunately for you and I and fortunately for Florida, as they have enough gator-related issues to deal with, this instance of wildlife on the loose happened in Texas.
According to Click2Houston, an unidentified man entered an unoccupied home located in the 9400 block of East Avenue J to smoke some pot.
When inside the home, the tipster said they saw a caged female tiger, but thought it was a result of a hallucination.
Upon searching the home, police found the very real tiger in a “rinky-dink”, unlocked cage located in the garage. Furthermore, police say the garage itself was secured with a screwdriver and a nylon strap.
Following the discovery of the barely-contained beast, she was brought to the BARC animal shelter at 3300 Carr St for treatment. She will remain there until a permanent home can be found.
While Houston is home to the sprawling Houston Zoo, the zoo said in a statement that they are unable to take the tiger because they “do not have the capacity”.
“The Houston Zoo is aware of the tiger found in southeast Houston today, Feb. 11; however, the Houston Zoo is not involved in this case, and is not receiving the tiger, as incorrectly reported. The Houston Zoo is home to two Malayan tigers, Berani and Satu, and does not have the capacity to receive additional tigers,” the statement from the Houston Zoo read.
“Fewer than 3,500 tigers of all tiger subspecies remain in the wild today, according to the Tiger Conservation Campaign. Malayan tigers surviving on the Malay Peninsula are critically endangered with an estimated population of 300 remaining in the wild,” the statement continued.
At this time, it is unclear if the pot smoking tipster was arrested for either the marijuana or the trespassing, but we have feeling police are just glad they found this tiger before she found them.
That is all the information that is available at this time. This article will be updated with new and relevant information should it become available. If there is anything that we missed, please reach out to editor@teamcoed.com.