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According to the City of Houston's code of ordinances, it is illegal to house a wild animal, including tigers and lions, in a residence or a business inside the city limits.

In February 2019, police seized a 350-pound Bengal tiger found caged inside the garage of an empty Houston home. The animal's owner, 24-year-old Brittany Garza, was arrested in May 2019 and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty for failing to provide water, food, care and shelter for the tiger.

That tiger was sent to live at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, an animal sanctuary in Murchison, Texas.

\"PHOTO:
Maria Torres
PHOTO: An off-duty police officer retreats as the apparent owner retrieves a Bengal tiger that had gotten out and was roaming the West Houston neighborhood May 9, 2021.
>

At the time of her arrest, Garza told ABC station KTRK-TV that she raised the tiger she named \"Rajah\" from a cub and denied ever being cruel to the animal. \"I feel like I lost my child, I think about him everyday,\" Garza told KTRK.

In February of this year, a young tiger named Elsa was found in the yard at a Bexar County, Texas, home, wearing a harness when she was rescued in freezing temperatures. She was also sent to the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch to live.

Lauren Loney, Texas state director for the Humane Society of the United States, issued a statement Monday condemning people who keep exotic animals as pets. She said the recent cases show the need for Congress to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act, which would ban the possession of tigers and lions as pets.

\"Yet another dangerous wild animal was apparently on the loose this weekend in Houston,\" Loney said. \"This inhumane treatment of animals and the public safety risks created by the surplus of tigers in Texas must end.\"

ABC News' Marilyn E. Heck contributed to this report.

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