11 Alive reports that the Henry County Police (Georgia) Department first received calls about a large tiger prowling I-75 on Wednesday morning.
Officers responded to the calls and quickly located the animal. Once they had visual confirmation, the police called animal experts to help them sedate and move the tiger. Unfortunately, before the handlers arrived the tiger left the interstate and walked into a residential community, where it attacked a dog in the backyard of one of the residences.
Concerned that the tiger now posed a threat to others, the officers chose to fatally shoot the animal.
“With the tiger in close proximity to a school bus route in a densely populated area, officers made the decision to put the animal down with gunfire fearing that occupants of the home could be in danger as well as others in the area. Henry County Department of Natural Resources and Henry County Animal Control arrived on scene to remove the deceased tiger from the yard of the residence,” the Henry County Police Department said in a statement about the incident on Facebook.
The dog is expected to recover but it is not yet known where the Tiger came from.