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
- Ary Borges saved Dan and Tom the tigers from a travelling circus in 2005
- He keeps them in his garden in Maringa, Brazil, with a host of other pets
- He has also used them to breed and now has seven other tigers too
- While he has keeper's licence, officials say he used them to breed illegally
- He is fighting action to make him sterilize so they can't reproduce
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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.
Animal lover: Ary Borges saved Tom the tiger
(pictured) and his brother Dan from a life of cruelty in 2005 and
brought them to his home in Maringa
Public danger? Mr Borgas now has nine tigers at his home after using Dan and Tom to breed
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.
Ibama, Brazil's environmental protection agency that also oversees wildlife, is working through courts to force Borges to have the male tigers undergo vasectomies so they can't reproduce.
'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.'
Feeding time: 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
Loveable: 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
Making a splash: Ibama, Brazil's environmental
protection agency that also oversees wildlife, is working through courts
to force Borges to have the male tigers undergo vasectomies so they
can't reproduce
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.
Ary's daughter Nayara Borges, 20, who grew up with the tiger cubs sleeping in her bed until they became too big, says she thinks the big cats would be mistreated if taken away, 'and our family would go into a severe depression.'
Her sister Uyara, 23, agreed, saying the cats are family after spending so many years with the Borges.
'At first we were scared of them, but as time went on, we saw them every day, fed them, gave them baths and water, and we started to fall in love with them,' Uyara said. 'We never thought we could live with such ferocious animals.'
A handler holds out a piece of meat for Tom:
Brazilian authorities also want his caretaker license confiscated and to
obtain the cats
Break time: Mr Borges' daughter Uyara, 23,
trusts the cats so much, she even allows her two-year-old daughter
Rayara to sit atop them
Uyara trusts the cats so much, she even allows her two-year-old daughter Rayara to sit atop them.
Experts, however, question the Borges family's efforts.
'It's crazy,' said Patty Finch, executive director of the Washington-based Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. 'It's a very dangerous situation, especially if there are young children around, they easily trigger a tiger's hunting instinct.'
Finch said that 'you will see people sometimes get lucky for a while, but sooner or later an accident is going to happen. You never know what's going to set these animals off because they're wild.'
Tom takes a swim: One animal welfare campaigner
says, 'people sometimes get lucky for a while, but sooner or later an
accident is going to happen... because they are wild'
Pounce: Campaigners say breeding in captivity
doesn't help conserve the tigers unless they're bred in their native
habitat and there is a plan to release them
Instead of promoting the animal's welfare, Finch said the Borges have done the opposite.
'Breeding in captivity doesn't help conserve the tigers unless they're bred in their native habitat and there is a plan to release them,' she said. 'They can't get habituated to people. They're condemning these tigers to a life of captivity.'
The Borges family isn't hearing any of it.
Inside a high fenced-in area where the tigers now sleep, Borges roughhoused with the animals, playfully slapping one on the flank and then leapt atop him, holding onto the animal's fur with both fists and grinning widely as the cat growled.
'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.'
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