NOW
SINGAPORE: A tiger spotted in Sixth Avenue? An incredible
story?
Well, not, according to animal rights group ACRES whose volunteers
have been pounding the streets in the area after it got tip-offs
that a tiger was being kept in captivity in a home there.
Going from house to house, braving excitable dogs and
non-responsive owners, the volunteers from the Animal Concerns
Research and Education Society (ACRES) want to create awareness
among Sixth Avenue residents about the possibility of a tiger being
kept in captivity in the area.
The reward for giving information about the tiger? $3,000.
As for the tiger search, the AVA says it will only come in to take
action once there is specific information on the location of such a
tiger.
ACRES says it believes the tiger may be full-grown and may have
been kept there for about 10 years - possibly in the basement of a
house.
Louis Ng, ACRES president, said: "We are quite worried for the
tiger because if it is being kept in a basement, he probably has
cataract and hasn't seen sunlight for a while."
But how does one spot a tiger? Other than tip-offs, ACRES hopes to
rope in an ex-tiger keeper.
Mr Ng said: "He might be able to hear something. Plus, the tiger's
urine is very pungent, so we might be able to smell and hear
something."
But with a few hundred households in the Sixth Avenue area, the
going was slow, especially with only five ACRES volunteers working,
as anything above that, the group says, would constitute unlawful
assembly.
However, many residents Channel NewsAsia spoke to were sceptical
about a tiger being kept in a house, although a few admitted it
could be a possibility in one of the bigger houses.
"I don't think so, because surely the person concerned has a maid,
and the maid will pass the word around," said a resident.
"I don't think anyone would keep a tiger as it's pretty dangerous,
but there are a few houses around there that would be big enough
(for a tiger)."
ACRES said AVA officers had gone to a specific location in Mandai
to search for another illegally-kept exotic pet, a Malayan sun
bear, which they hoped to rescue.
But the search had come up empty. - CNA
