Family in legal battle to keep their pet TIGERS: Man who rescued big cats from a travelling circus is told they are too much of a public danger
A Brazilian animal lover who rescued two tigers from a travelling circus has become locked in a legal battle after officials told him to give them up claiming they pose a public threat.
Ary Borges saved brothers Dan and Tom from a life of cruelty in 2005 and brought them to his home in Maringa, southern Brazil.
As cubs they slept in his daughters’ beds and ambled about his garden with his other pets, two lions, a monkey, and a pet Chihuahau named Little.
He has since used the brothers to breed an ambush of nine tigers, all of whom now live with Mr Borges and his family.
But now they are fully-grown, wildlife officials say the 700-pound beasts are too dangerous to keep in an industrial neighbourhood of this southern Brazil city and that Mr Borges used them to breed other tigers illegally.
‘Sadly there are so many animals dying in zoos that have no oversight,’ said Mr Borges. ‘My animals are treated extremely well … we’re preserving and conserving the species.
‘We have a great team of veterinarians. We give them only the best, but we’re being persecuted.’
It also wants his caretaker license confiscated and to obtain the cats. Borges appealed and the matter is pending before a federal court. The agency declined repeated requests for comment.
‘My father would die or kill himself if these tigers are taken away,’ Uyara said. ‘They’re everything to us, they’re my brothers. We’ve lived with them day and night for eight years.’
