Wildcat Sanctuary Welcomes New Tiger Cub After Almost Being Sold For $25K

SANDSTONE, Minn. — A tiger cub named Indy was brought to the Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone after someone tried to sell her online.

Indy was purchased and then that buyer was trying to sell her online for $25,000. Authorities intervened and took her from where she was found, which was in a dog kennel in a man’s closet in Arizona.

The Wildcat Sanctuary founder says Indy is just one of the cubs they’ve taken in this last year that have been illegally trafficked in the U.S. and worldwide.

“It’s bittersweet when we do rescues like this because we’re so happy she was rescued before something really bad could happen to her. And she’s gonna live a wonderful, compassionate life, everything she needs here at the Sanctuary. But we still would rather see these animals in the wild. We do not want wild animals to be kept in captivity and purchased, and bred and sold as pets,” said Tammy Thies, Founder and Executive Director of the Wildcat Sanctuary.

And not all cubs that are brought to the sanctuary are as lucky as Indy.

“Many of the cubs we get are suffering from metabolic bone disease, malnutrition, sometimes they have such long confinement that they don’t have use of their back end, so Indy’s a lucky one,” said Thies.

Indy will live at the sanctuary for the rest of her life, which could be up to 20 years.

The Wildcat Sanctuary asks if people see a tiger cub being sold or privately owned to report it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.