Pet tigers taken from NV property amid legal battle, officials say. ‘Breaks my heart’
Deputies took seven pet tigers from a Nevada property amid an ongoing legal battle with the exotic animals’ owner, officials said.
Nye County Sheriff’s deputies helped county code enforcement and animal services seize the animals in a process that took “the better part of the day” on April 2, the agency said on Facebook.
Photos show the tigers resting in their enclosures on the private property.
Deputies issued the search warrant for a man they say had owned the tigers for nearly a decade, saying he’s been “violating county ordinances and special condition permits,” KVVU reported.
The ongoing legal battle over the pet tigers seemed to come to a conclusion in 2019, when the owner won an appeal with the Nye County Commission to keep the animals under a special conditions animal permit that barred him from exhibiting the tigers or transporting them for anything other than medical care or in the event of an emergency, the Pahrump Valley Times reported.
Multiple stations reported the owner was taken into custody for resisting a deputy during the seizure — and apparently telling deputies “he would release the animals if deputies came after him,” according to KVVU.
Several people wrote messages of support in comments on the sheriff’s office Facebook post.
“Leave this man and his cats alone,” one person said.
“This man loves these babies!!!” another said. “They are so very well taken care of!”
Many complained that “backyard breeders” are a bigger threat to animals, and “nothing is ever done about” it.
“This is just disgusting,” someone said. “Those tigers are well taken care of….This just breaks my heart that these beautiful tigers are being taken away from their family.”
Some agreed with the seizure, saying that even if the animals are well cared for, they would be better off at an accredited zoo.
Pahrump is about a 65-mile drive west from Las Vegas.
This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Pet tigers taken from NV property amid legal battle, officials say. ‘Breaks my heart’."
