WSB-TV reports there were several calls made to Triple Team Traffic early on Wednesday morning after residents spotted a full grown tiger on the loose in the area. Police were out and about looking for the tiger and eventually tracked it down to an Atlanta neighborhood where it had entered a family’s backyard.

Brittney Speck, the homeowner in question, awoke to high-beam lights shining through her windows at shortly before 6:30 a.m. Speck said her dog was going crazy in the backyard and barking loudly. When she looked out her back window to check on her dog, she spotted a tiger in her neighbor’s yard, on the side closest to her yard.

She said she called 911 and shortly afterward, the tiger jumped into her yard and on to her Dachshund, Journey.

Homeowner thankful her dog survived the tiger attack

Speck said the officers immediately started shooting and killed the tiger. Once the tiger was down, they gave Speck her dog, who survived the incident unscathed. Speck said it was a full-grown tiger, adding she was relieved her children, aged three, four and seven, weren’t outside at the time. Mentioning the small size of her dog as compared to a tiger, she said she would have to have a word with Journey about standing up to tigers.

First sightings of the tiger

The tiger was first spotted on I-75 early on Wednesday morning, while at the same time police received a number of 911 calls.

After the tiger was first seen, Henry County Police had contacted the Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary to ask them if they had lost a tiger. Officials were particularly concerned, as children would soon be heading out to school and may be in danger from the animal.

As reported by CBS News, the sanctuary released a statement on Wednesday to say all their tigers are accounted for, but they responded to the reports and were heading out in the hope of chemically immobilizing the animal to take it to Noah’s Ark.

They added that as human life was at risk, police had no choice but to shoot the tiger. The sanctuary went on to thank the Henry County police for trying their best to get the tiger to a safe place.

According to police, they had spotted the tiger jumping into a resident’s yard shortly after 6 a.m.

The officers said due to the risk to human life, they were forced to shoot the animal as they had no tranquilizer guns handy and couldn’t wait for them to arrive.

Now Animal Control and Henry County Police are trying to establish where the tiger had originated from.
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