Floyd Mayweather, a retired professional boxer, took to Instagram to share a photo of what he called an “early Christmas present”. But the photo wasn’t of a new car or jet plane – it showed a young tiger on a leash.
Mayweather can have anything he wants, and what he should want is an end to the wild-animal trade, not to be a facilitator of it. Tigers do poorly as “pets” – they belong in their native habitats, not in a cage in a celebrity’s home as a “show-off” prop, 100 per cent certain to be discarded at a roadside zoo or a cheap circus or to meet some other tawdry end after they become too strong to handle and begin to show a will of their own.
Wild animals kept as amusements never have a fighting chance at a natural life. Having been torn away from their mothers at a young age, many are violently beaten by trainers and all are deprived of what’s natural and important to them. PETA appeals to Floyd Mayweather to be a real champ for animals and allow his “Christmas present” to be moved to a wildlife sanctuary.
