SAFE AND SOUND

Tiger Seen Roaming Around Houston Is Finally Found

India, the 9-month-old tiger, is “doing fine” after police say his owner agreed to hand him over.

The tiger that prompted a panic earlier this week when it was spotted roaming around a Houston neighborhood has been turned over to authorities and is unharmed, police announced late Saturday. The 9-month-old tiger, named India, made quite the commotion while prowling through a residential street last Sunday, before his apparent owner showed up and whisked him off in a Jeep Cherokee, leaving many wondering about his whereabouts. Houston Police Commander Ron Borza told reporters late Saturday that police received a tip about the location of the tiger from a friend of Georgie “Gia” Cuevas, the wife of the animal’s apparent owner, Victor Cuevas. “Gia” subsequently agreed to hand the tiger over, Borza said. Victor Cuevas, who was out on bond for a 2017 homicide case, had earlier denied that the tiger belonged to him through his lawyer.

“It is Victor’s tiger … that’s what I was told by [Gia], and she’s the wife of Victor, and she said they’ve had that animal for nine months, and it is approximately nine months old,” Borza said. He noted that the tiger was “doing fine” and the situation “turned out really well,” even though India was “extremely powerful,” and “if he wanted to overcome you, he could do it instantly, no doubt about it … you should not have that in your home.”