It took a little convincing before police believed the person who reported the strange discovery.
The concerned citizen claimed to have entered an abandoned Houston home to smoke pot and found a tiger.
So, naturally, authorities were suspicious.
“We questioned them as to whether they were under the effects of the drugs or they actually saw a tiger,” Sgt. Jason Alderete of the Houston Police Department’s Major Offenders, Livestock Animal Cruelty Unit told CNN affiliate KTRK.
But once they arrived, police found a caged tiger in the home’s garage, according toKTRK.
The home had been abandoned for some time, Alderete said. But several packages of meat were found with the animal, KTRK reported.
Officers tranquilized the large cat, pulled it out using a wrecker and transferred it to an animal shelter.
On Tuesday morning, the tiger was taken 200 miles north to an animal sanctuary operated by animal rescue organization Fund for Animals.
The animal will, at least for now, be one of three tigers and roughly 800 other rescued animals at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in the Texas community of Murchison, the Humane Society said.
“The ranch has a five-acre, naturally wooded habitat complex that emulates a native environment and that will be the tiger’s new home pending a decision about permanent custody,” the Humane Society said.
The case is still under investigation and it’s unclear if the tiger’s owner will face any charges.
