Footage of the tiger roaming around the streets of Houston appeared for the first time on social media, causing panic among the residents.
The animal has been rescued, and it's in good health, its new habitat will have a pool and everything the tiger needs at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, where she will spend the rest of her life in the safety and care of the volunteers.
India, the tiger, escaped from its alleged owner Hugo Cuevas and gone missing for a week. The man, who had previously tried to flee his arrest, was finally taken to the police station. At the time of his detention, Cuevas was already on bail for a different murder charge, which took place in 2017.
The feline was first spotted in a suburban area of Houston and on a second time in 1103 Ivy Wall Drive at about 8 pm on Sunday. Citizens were promptly warned by a Houston police tweet that announced the tiger was on the loose.
Josè Ramos, Cuevas neighbour, had previously spotted a monkey peeking out the man's window, lead by curiosity but unaware he could have bigger animals in captivity, checked in the man's backyard he saw India the tiger for the first time.
He immediately called 911 and warned his neighbours, an off-duty deputy rushed to handle the situation and pointed a gun at the tiger, just in case the animal would decide to attack.
At that point, a man that cared for the tiger realised the animal had escaped and brought it back inside. After a few minutes, he flew with the tiger in the car.
Cuevas promptly denied ownership of the tiger, but he admitted taking care of the animal often and spending a lot of time with India, ever since it was a cub. Houston Police department chief Ron Borza has identified Cuevas' wife Georgiana as the owner and primary caretaker of the tiger.
Borza thinks that the owners knew where the missing tiger was for the whole time, and they were purposely hiding the feline in friends and family's homes.
Although the ownership of wild animals is allowed in some areas of Texas, it is illegal to own a tiger within the limits of the city of Houston.
At the moment Cuevas is not facing any charges but he's been interrogated while the investigation is still ongoing.
On a Saturday's conference, Ron spoke about the possible dangers of owning a wild animal of such:
"In no way, shape or form should you have an animal like that in your household. That animal is only nine months old and already weighs 175 lbs (80kgs) - full-grown, that animal can get to 600 lbs. It still had its claws, and it could do a lot of damage if he decided to. (Source BBC News)
Cuevas is currently held in police custody, and a new bond of 300.000$ was set.
Texas holds the record of being the second state in the world after the State of India that holds the biggest number of tigers in captivity, with an estimate of 5000 tigers that are currently unregistered and living in backyards.
Carol Baskin, which gained popularity because of the Netflix documentary Tiger King, said she was happy the tiger was found and taken into the sanctuary.
She had also previously offered a conspicuous reward to anyone who could locate and bring the tiger back to safety.
The association of Peta blamed federal and state laws for this incident and addressed the dangers that an exotic animal on the loose could cause, condemning the illegal breeding of felines which are often kept in small cages and sold online.