Mexico City, Dec 31 (IANS/EFE) A pet tiger kept by an attorney in Mexico escaped from its home and spurred a massive deployment of policemen and firefighters in a northern Mexican town, authorities said.

The 50-kg female Royal Bengal tiger named Deborah was roaming the streets of Saltillo in Coahuila state.

An official of the state unit of Mexico’s environmental protection agency Profepa said alarmed residents began calling police Wednesday night when they saw the tiger roaming around.

“It was a tigress between eight and 12 months old that some thieves allowed to escape when they broke into the office of the pet’s owner, attorney Rodolfo Richards,” the official said.

The tiger was eventually recaptured.

Deborah was only a month old when the attorney bought her from a pet shop in Monterrey. Richards has paperwork confirming his ownership of the animal but he failed to register the tiger with Profepa as a pet.

Richards faces a fine of up to 1.2 million pesos ($85,000).

Mexicans are allowed to keep exotic animals as pets provided they comply with Profepa regulations, which include providing the animal with an appropriate environment and ensuring it does not become a threat to public safety.

Six months ago, a mountain lion and a tiger were dumped in front of the Profepa office in Coahuila, while army troops captured an African lion in the town of Nava.

–IANS/EFE
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