Tigers are not cuddly toys
Woman Forgets Tigers Are Not Cuddly Little House Kitties
Tigers are one of the most beautiful and majestic animals on the planet. However, they tend not to make great house pets. This doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you have to tell most people, but there are some residents in Nye County, Nevada that would’ve appreciated it if their neighbor Trisha Meyer had been told this fact before she allowed her pet tigers to roam around her backyard.
Burglars, and Tigers, and Monkeys, Oh My!
Even if she’d had a large and enclosed area, it would’ve been odd to see tigers in this area. However, it was even more alarming, as her neighbors and authorities say that she only had a small fence in the backyard that was about four-feet high. In addition, when the tigers were outside, it did not appear as if they had any restraints on them that would keep them in the yard. In fact, it seemed as though there was nothing that would stop the tigers from getting out if they wanted.
There are always certain regulations that people who own exotic animals need to follow. In many cases, they are illegal to own and have on your property. Not only did Ms. Meyer have tigers on her property, she also had a veritable barrel full of monkeys. In fact, she had eight monkeys in her house according to the police.
While the tigers and monkeys were certainly surprising, the authorities had some other surprises in store for them. They discovered that she had a warrant out for her arrest in Texas for theft and burglary.
According to reports, she will not face charges in Nevada. However, she has agreed to extradition to Houston for the charges on her warrant. There are reports of other prior charges against Meyer regarding child endangerment, as well. This would’ve been because she was keeping tigers around her daughter, who is just 14 years old.
So, what happens to the tigers? They were confiscated, and will probably end up going to the zoo or a refuge. The same may be true of the monkeys that were in her possession. With the animals gone, it should help her neighbors sleep a bit easier and worry less about being attacked by a tiger when they’re outside. After all, that doesn’t seem like the thing most people worry about in Las Vegas unless the name happens to be Siegfried or Roy.
Why Do People Keep Wild Animals?
What is it that compels people to keep these types of animals? Whether it’s a lion, tiger, bear, cougar, or some other animal that is better left in the wild, there are always people who want to own them and keep them as pets. There are any number of reasons that people could feel compelled to keep these animals. However, unless they have their own zoo, and knowledge of how to care for the animals, as well as permission to keep the animals, it does not tend to end well. In fact, many times it will end in tragedy.