Panjo found; NSPCA says tigers 'belong in the wild'
The hand-reared tiger, Panjo, who escaped on Monday was found by sniffer dogs today. He's now back at home waiting for the vet to visit.
No wildlife authorities have come to take him away and his owners have repeatedly said they posses the necessary paperwork to keep their four tigers. Regardless, the incident has raised criticism from the NSPCA over whether wild animals should be kept as pets.
Panjo sometimes even sleeps on his owner's bed, but the 140kg tiger is not fully mature and may become less suitable as a pet as he grows.
About the author
Rakuen Growlithe — read stories — contact (login required)a student and Growlithe (Pokemon) from South Africa, interested in science, anime and power metal
I'm a fur from South Africa. I got into the fandom through my interest in pokemon, still a major part of my involvement, and writing fanfiction, though now I also try my hand at art from time to time. I've spread myself out over a number of sites including forums and furry news sites. Outside of furry and the aforementioned subjects I'm interested in science, anime (and am learning Japanese) and power metal.
Comments
He was never a suitable pet to begin with! He's a wild animal dammit.
Puppies and kitties = pets
Tigers =/= pets.
This is indeed true... but I must point out that the reason we have puppies and kitties in the first place is because of thousands of years of people not listening to the idea that tigers and wolves are not pets, and breeding the ones that tore their faces off least frequently.
Smile! The world could use another happy person.
And I must point out that this point, for all practicality, is pointless. Regardless of how long it took to domesticate any animals, those that are currently not currently domesticated remain wild and will not reach an appreciable level of domesticity for another few thousands of years, if people were inclined to continue working at domesticating them. (Well, okay -- maybe not thousands of years, but a great many generations at least, provided anyone could propose a legitimate reason for creating a domesticated tiger.)
A wild animal is not suitable for a pet -- especially a carnivore. Especially a large carnivore.
Not if the generation time is short enough: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tame_silver_fox was done in 50 years!
And still doesn't matter when it comes to the here and now. A tiger's great-great-great-great-great-great-whatever-descendant may be domesticated; the tiger himself is not.
They might not actually be able to be domesticated but that doesn't meant they can't be tamed and make good pets. Cheetahs haven't been domesticated, but are very easy to both tame and train and so can make good pets, provided you can care for them of course. Also pets are kept for pleasure, not for any functional reason.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
~Evelyn Beatrice Hall~
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