'Get your tiger back inside': Caretaker drives off after deputy's showdown with big cat in Houston
Source: Houston Chronicle
Nicole Hensley / Julian Gill
Staff writers
May 9, 2021
Updated: May 10, 2021 2:03 p.m.
The man whose tiger escaped a west Houston home and came face-to-face with an armed off-duty Waller County Sheriff's Office deputy in a residential neighborhood was out on bond on a murder case in Fort Bend County, authorities said.
Police continue to look for the tiger and the man, who Commander Ron Borza with Houston Police Department's Major Offenders division said posted bond on $250,000 bail in November. Borza declined to identify the man. He also said the incident may be related to another in Houston in 2019, where a caged tiger was found in an abandoned home.
Video of the encounter on Sunday shows the tiger lounging in the grass and then walking toward a man with a gun drawn around 8 p.m. Sunday in the 1100 block of Ivy Wall Drive, near the Energy Corridor. Police spokesman Victor Senties identified the man as a law enforcement official from the nearby county who happened to be nearby when neighbors spied the tiger.
Read more: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Bengal-tiger-spotted-in-front-yard-in-west-16164272.php#photo-20969977
Okay, this tiger is an endangered species, how in the fuck did this man get this tiger out of the "zoo" which he the care taker claims and then fled the scene ... this planet needs to outlaw this exotic sale BS or illegal's sales of this BS......you type in exotic pets and I bet you get a list of firms in your area that have five fucking stars .......
Liberty Belle
(9,528 posts)change. They are bred in captivity by irresponsible breeders who often have cub pettings that can injure the cubs which are often euthanized as they get older or sold for canned hunts, or simply kept in too-small enclosures, all abusive situations.
The same is true for lions and many other exotic animals such as bears.
turbinetree
(24,632 posts)thank you for the information you provided.....
Merlot
(9,696 posts)for legitimate breeding purposes. Zoos won't/can't accept those animals.
All breeding and owning of exotic animals should be illegal. Whenever someone posts a picture of someone with an exotic "pet" they should really think about what they're doing.
turbinetree
(24,632 posts)LeftInTX
(24,560 posts)Looks like a nice neighborhood too, not some suburban ram-shackle...
This guy is only 28 years old, in a house, in a nice neighborhood where a 28 year old cannot afford this type of home, and also appears to have capuchin monkeys, who is out on bond for murder and there is a for sale sign in the home's yard.
It's one of those weird stories....
(Maybe he's also involved with some illegal animal trade because he must be getting his money from somewhere)
catrose
(5,050 posts)Sanctuaries have offered to take this tiger. I hope that works out.
mbusby
(822 posts)...in Houston we did a double take when we saw a male lion standing up front between the two front seats in a van going south on I-45.
catrose
(5,050 posts)BoringUsername
(142 posts)It is not good for the animal, but also not good for the neighborhood. That animal just doesn't belong there. I would not want to live next door to someone keeping a dangerous animal like tiger as pet.
multigraincracker
(32,531 posts)They belong in the wild or with trained experts like at zoos. I lived with a rehabber and there were all kinds of wild animals in and around the house, including bobcats, foxes, raccoons and hawks and eagles to name a few. They were miserable there and very dangerous.
catrose
(5,050 posts)The House passed it last year, and then it went to McConnell's graveyard.
JudyM
(29,122 posts)Apparently it was reintroduced in the Senate but I didnt locate that in a quick search: https://awionline.org/press-releases/big-cat-public-safety-act-reintroduced-senate
House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Members:
Dems:
Jared Huffman, California, Chair
Grace Napolitano, California
Jim Costa, California
Mike Levin, California
Debbie Dingell, Michigan
Ed Case, Hawaii
Doris Matsui, California
Alan Lowenthal, California
Steve Cohen, Tennessee
Darren Soto, Florida
Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
Nydia Velázquez, New York
Repugs:
Cliff Bentz, Oregon, Ranking Member
Jerry Carl, Alabama, Vice Ranking Member
Don Young, Alaska
Rob Wittman, Virginia
Tom McClintock, California
Garret Graves, Louisiana
Amata Coleman Radewagen, American Samoa
Daniel Webster, Florida
Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico
Russ Fulcher, Idaho
Lauren Boebert, Colorado
Ex officio
Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
Bruce Westerman, Arkansas
LeftInTX
(24,560 posts)Borza said Cuevas is leasing the Houston residence, described in real estate ads as a 4,541-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-bathroom house.
That's up there with Tony Montana stuff..LOL
Midnight Writer
(21,548 posts)He says that when these animals get old or sick, they are culled from the park.
So, instead of putting the animals to sleep humanely, they allow hunters to have some fun with them.
Paladin
(28,204 posts)LeftInTX
(24,560 posts)Exotic big game are quite popular on hunting ranches in Texas. Those animals are basically raised for hunting.
I assume these ranches have gotta be popular in other states too.
Hunting ranches are fairly pervasive down here, but probably do not include endangered species.
They don't include carnivores such as big cats, bears etc.
The guy with this tiger is probably a drug dealer. (28 year old who is living in a 4,500 sq ft home)
He is already on bond for murder. Ted Nugent is disgusting, but this is apples and oranges....
JohnnyRingo
(18,581 posts)...because hardly anyone is stupid enough to keep one at home.
Mike Tyson comes to mind.
Collimator
(1,639 posts). . . armed with a gun, encounters one of the dangerous animals in the world wandering around an upscale neighborhood.
The animal is NOT shot on sight, which tells us that it wasn't a Black man.
(Yes, I am being sarcastic and no, I don't believe that Black men are inherently dangerous, in case someone has missed the point.)
Hekate
(90,202 posts)Further, American tigers are almost entirely in private hands.
This is nuts, and it truly should be outlawed.
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,846 posts)"In Texas, it is easier to own a tiger than a dog that's been labeled as dangerous. It's estimated there could be from 2,000 to 5,000 tigers living in this southern state of the United States meaning Texas could have more tigers than the roughly 3,800 tigers living in the wild globally."
https://www.dw.com/en/tigers-prowl-texas-backyards/a-44347435
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Rhiannon12866
(203,029 posts)It's a sanctuary for animals who can no longer live in the wild and apparently these big cats were originally kept as pets. People can be incredibly stupid.
relogic
(155 posts)an egregious amount of cruelty. The detachment from empathy for wild and pet creatures in the vast population of humans never surprises me-a sad commentary in the alternate universe where sensitivity to these suffering animals is considered a weakness in your character.
zanana1
(6,085 posts)LeftInTX
(24,560 posts)(CNN)Houston authorities have captured a man who allegedly evaded police while housing a Bengal tiger in a yard, but the tiger remains on the lam.
"The whereabouts of the tiger are not yet known," Houston police tweeted Monday.
Victor Hugo Cuevas, 26, was out on bond for a prior murder charge in Fort Bend County on Monday morning when neighbors spotted the big cat in a front yard, Houston Police Commander Ron Borza said in a news conference.
There were also reports that the suspect had monkeys, which are allowed in the city, Borza said. Owning a tiger is a violation of Houston law, but it is legal under Texas state law with certain restrictions.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/10/us/houston-tiger-murder-suspect-trnd/index.html
Cuevas says he does not own the tiger......
LudwigPastorius
(8,944 posts)Riiiiiiight.
LeftInTX
(24,560 posts)Instead, Cuevas was arrested and taken to the Fort Bend County Jail for violating his bond on a 2017 murder charge, and evading arrest.
All they want to do is lock people up and presume them to be guilty, and let them try to figure it out later. Its terrible, Elliott said, adding Cuevas has been implicated in a trove of assumptions that are not true. Because my client was the one who caught this tiger, who went out and got it, brought it back to safety, everyone is just assuming that hes the owner of the tiger and that its his tiger, Elliott said.
Elliot said although his client does not own the tiger, he could not elaborate on his connection to the animal. He also said that Cuevas is working with authorities to locate the owner and the tiger.
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/05/10/tiger-owner-spotted-in-houston-neighborhood-is-out-on-bond-on-a-murder-charge-officials-say/
Cuevas is out on bond for murder.....