‘Tiger King’ exposes dark side of big cat ownership

In recent weeks, the Netflix series “Tiger King” has been a source of amusement for countless Americans who cannot seem to get enough of Joe Exotic, Doc Antle and other big cat exhibitors featured. But as we have seen here in Houston and across the state of Texas, people who privately own big cats are dangerous to society. They sacrifice the welfare of the animals, they put the public at serious risk and it is really not so amusing at all.

It is certainly not a subject for Texans to laugh about, for they live in the only state that leaves the regulation of dangerous wild animals, like tigers, to local governments. It is a proven disaster to do so.

Inconsistent Texas city and county ordinances are weak and frequently difficult to enforce, and they amount to a patchwork approach that has plainly failed to address public health and safety or animal welfare concerns. When private individuals keep tigers and other dangerous wild animals as pets in Texas, bad things happen.

For the lucky few, accredited sanctuaries like ours can step up and provide forever care for these wild animals. In 2019, for example, a tiger named Loki became the “poster-tiger” for this problem after he was seized from a barren cage in a garage in southeast Houston. Luckily for Loki, he is now healthy, safe and living on a large property at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison. We also have another tiger, Alex, rescued from the exotic pet trade. Alex was seized by law enforcement in 2013. Living in his own waste in a tiny ramshackle cage secured by a flimsy latch, he was coated in mud and feces until he came to Black Beauty Ranch.

We have cared for several big cats over the years providing them permanent safety and sanctuary in naturally wooded, multi-acre habitats that allow them the ability to live as natural a life as possible with as little interference from humans as possible. We give them an appropriate diet, access to dedicated care by trained professionals and a specialized veterinary program. Once they are here, they will never be mistreated or in danger anymore.

Another Texas tiger, Nahla, was found roaming the streets in Conroe after her owner’s property flooded during the 2016 Tax Day Flood. At that time, she was only 5 months old and weighed around 100 pounds. Thankfully, authorities recognized that a full-grown, 500-pound tiger did not belong in somebody’s backyard and awarded custody to an animal sanctuary, where Nahla is now living comfortably.

In both cases, the tigers were owned by people with no experience or knowledge of what it takes to maintain these animals in good health. At just a few months old, tigers become unmanageable and a threat to public safety. These situations are terrible for the animals too, obviously. Time and time again, private owners fail to provide the care and enrichment that these intelligent and sentient animals require to live healthy and normal lives. It is especially cruel to deny them their most basic biological and behavioral needs, day after day, month after month, and year after year.

If such animals cannot be in the wild, they must be placed with accredited sanctuaries and zoos, which are properly equipped to care for them and can provide the proper nutrients, enrichment and veterinary care. “Tiger King” made it pretty clear that Joe Exotic and his friends were without any credit or credibility as caregivers. They bred their animals repeatedly solely for photo ops and then brutally discarded the tiger cubs when they were too old to pose, at just a few months of age. That is not sanctuary or conservation. That is cruelty.

Is it really such a reach for Texas to prohibit private ownership of dangerous wild animals? Our state already has sensible laws to prohibit citizens from taking and keeping native wildlife as pets. And Texas Sens. Joan Huffman and Carol Alvarado have made the case for statewide legislation to bring an end to the nonsense, the risk and the abuse that is inextricably linked to private ownership of exotic animals. It is really time that other legislators step up to lend their voices and their support to this commonsense measure that we clearly need in our state.