Tiger found by 311 caller in Houston home sent to Texas wildlife refuge

The tiger that was found in a Southeast Houston residence awaits transport to a rescue facility at the BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions building Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. The tiger that was found in a Southeast Houston residence awaits transport to a rescue facility at the BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions building Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Staff Photographer Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Tiger found by 311 caller in Houston home sent to Texas wildlife refuge 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

A chubby tiger rescued from a ramshackle Houston home — all thanks to a pot-smoking 311 caller — was given a kingdom of his own at a North Texas wildlife refuge as law enforcement spent Tuesday searching for his owner.

The apex predator whose unexpected discovery in an abandoned home Monday made international headlines as he arrived at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, where he may continue to live among a menagerie of horses, reptiles, primates and bison on the 1,400-acre property.

The male cat rolled up to the Murchison ranch about 24 hours after a woman who requested anonymity from authorities dialed the city's 311 service with an animal welfare concern from a vacant home in the 9400 block of E. Avenue J in the Manchester neighborhood, according to officials.

Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said the woman was at the vacant home in hopes of lighting up her marijuana stash. But she and a pal realized they were not alone.

The woman found the exotic feline locked in a cage too small for a beast of his stature.

"I'm not lying," the woman told a perplexed 311 dispatcher, according to a recording reviewed by the Houston Chronicle.

"I don't know how he got it in there," she said. "It's not a baby tiger. It's pretty big."

"How do you even get a tiger," the dispatcher wondered.

Authorities have honored the 311 caller's request to remain anonymous, even to late night comic Jimmy Kimmel, whose representatives had hoped to bring the marijuana-toting good Samaritan on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

The woman's call was soon patched through to BARC, who then dispatched an animal control officer to the home. An HPD officer joined him. The officers could hear the striped animal — and smell the unmistakable aroma associated with cat urine that followed it to the shelter. It was enough to obtain a search warrant.

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The feline they found inside was trapped inside a 4x8-feet cage, resting on a bed of hay. He had eaten recently but was dehydrated.

"It wasn't well cared for," said Lara Cottingham, of the city's Administration & Regulatory Affairs Department which oversees BARC and 311.

She said the tiger woke up Tuesday morning in "good spirits" after spending the night at BARC's animal shelter in a tranquilizer-induced cat nap.

"It was snoring adorably," she said, adding that he was well behaved, too. The tiger posed regally for photographs and picked up its food bowl with his mouth in an apparent attempt to request a meaty nosh.

"It was really Instagram friendly," Cottingham said.

Neighbors shocked

As the sun went down Monday on Avenue J, neighbors were shocked to hear they were sharing a block with a tiger, whose counterparts in the wild are an endangered species,

"Maybe they had it like a pet," said Pablo Briagas, whose guard dogs were roaming his driveway. "You know people these days."

He was worried that the tiger they never knew about could have escaped and hurt someone.

"I have my kids here," Briagas said alongside his 8-year-old son. "It's dangerous."

His son Isaac was certain their dogs would have protected them if the tiger had broken free of its cage.

How the planet's largest cat species ended up at the east Houston home is a mystery to law enforcement. Tigers are not a permitted pet in the city limits unless the handler, such as a zoo, is licensed to have exotic animals.

"They're adorable kittens, but they grow up into very big, very hungry, very expensive and potentially very dangerous animals," Cottingham said.

Investigators with HPD's Major Offenders' Animal Cruelty Squad have leads into who owned the tiger but it may not be the same person who owns the property, said Jodi Silva, a police spokeswoman.

The house changed ownership at some point from 2018 to 2019, according to Harris County records.

The dilapidated wood framed home went into foreclosure after its resident of two decades died, according to records and a man whose phone number was spray painted on the crooked garage.

The man, who declined to be identified, was trying to purchase the property last year but the deal fell through, he said. The tiger was not a fixture in the home when he toured it. The animal's presence Monday was a surprise to him.

"I had a good laugh. I didn't think you could have a tiger in Houston," he said.

The lot in the Manchester subdivision was the subject of a 2016 tax delinquency lawsuit. The former owner's daughter had been living at the property but took residence in a nursing home when she developed medical issues, according to court documents.

The woman whom records show currently owns the property could not be reached for comment.

'A better life'

The tiger looked to be in good health after his 200-mile journey to Cleveland Armory Black Beauty Ranch, about 70 miles southeast of Dallas. A five-acre habitat has the potential to become his forever home, depending on the outcome of the police investigation.

Ranch director Noelle Almrud said that while the tiger is fairly young, he's "a little overweight."

"But probably because he wasn't getting any exercise," Almrud said.

The cat will remain there for at least two weeks, while it's in quarantine. Should he remain for good, he will join two other tigers — out of more than 800 animals — in their care.

"We feel we can provide him a better life," Almrud said. "We currently have the space. It's not a hardship for us."

But requests to house tigers come frequently, she said.

Their other tiger, Charlie, came to the refuge from a Colorado breeder who retired and relinquished his big cats in 2016, while Alex came to them from a pet trade operation in Kansas in 2014.

During his initial two-week stay, Almrud said he will have access to a proper tiger diet — they require 10 to 22 pounds of meat daily — and veterinary care.

Back in Houston, his rescuers settled on a name. He will be known as Tyson, named for the professional boxer Mike Tyson who had a tiger in the movie "The Hangover."

Jay R. Jordan and Michela Garcia contributed to this report.