Texas mom once arrested for raising child in house full of tigers faces new charges

By Malavika Pradeep

Published Sep 23, 2022 at 08:43 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

36476

A Texas mom once arrested for housing three tigers, a cougar, a skunk, a fox and eight “vicious” monkeys under the same roof as her 14-year-old daughter in Cypress, Texas, is now facing new federal charges after she allegedly brokered the sale of an endangered jaguar cub—which was later abandoned at a California wildlife sanctuary.

As first reported by The Daily Beast, Trisha Denise Meyer, 40, is freshly charged with two misdemeanours and a felony, including the interstate sale of an endangered species and trafficking prohibited wildlife, for transporting the live jaguar cub from Texas to California in 2021 after agreeing to the $30,000 sale in Austin.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, Meyer’s co-defendant Abdul Rahman, a Southern California car dealer, claimed he purchased the jaguar from the Texas mom but “quickly became dissatisfied” and wanted to sell it without losing money. “The complaint notes that Rahman was given a $5,000 credit toward the $25,000 jaguar purchase because Meyer previously sold him a marmoset that went ‘crazy’,” The Daily Beast noted.

Rahman then unloaded the jaguar on a married couple. However, the buyer’s pregnant wife was concerned about raising a wild animal and a newborn in the same home and eventually abandoned the growing cub on the doorstep of an exotic animal rescue group in Alpine, California.

“These people are just idiots,” Bobbi Brink, founder and director of Lions Tigers & Bears, told The Daily Beast. “And they don’t care about the animals at all. It’s all about the money.”

Meyer was previously arrested in 2016 for child endangerment after officials found several exotic and dangerous animals roaming freely at her home with her teenage daughter. The Houston Police Department first visited the ‘tiger mom’ after she had allegedly scammed a man who tried to buy a Savannah kitten from her for $3,000.

When police arrived at her house, they found the 14-year-old “petting and making physical contact with the tigers and the tigers making contact with her.” At the time, Meyer herself admitted that her tigers were big enough to be “dangerous and could kill” and that her monkeys were aggressive and hostile, and had even attacked people before.

Texas mom once arrested for raising child in house full of tigers faces new charges
Texas mom once arrested for raising child in house full of tigers faces new charges

Meyer’s tigers freely roamed both her house and yard, which reportedly only had a four-foot fence. She also lived near an elementary school, and according to Fox News, told officials that she only caged the predators when she wasn’t home. What’s more is that the Texas mom did not have licences for the eight monkeys, the cougar, the fox, or the skunk.

At the time, BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions took the animals into protective custody and Meyer was held on $2,000 bail in the Nye County Jail, Nevada—where she received a deferred sentence and didn’t have to serve any jail time.

Keep On Reading

By Charlie Sawyer

What is Mar-a-Lago face? Unpacking the beauty trend prompted by Donald Trump’s second term

By Charlie Sawyer

The #MeToo movement is at risk. How the Harvey Weinstein retrial risks doing unimaginable damage 

By Eliza Frost

The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 proves we’ll never be over love triangles

By Charlie Sawyer

Gen Zers are taking out travel insurance policies for their Labubus ahead of summer

By Eliza Frost

What is Banksying? Inside the latest toxic dating trend even worse than ghosting

By Eliza Frost

Does the SKIMS Face Wrap actually work, or is it just another TikTok trap?

By Eliza Frost

All the Tea on the new app that lets women vet men and date safely

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Robert F. Kennedy Jr declares war on teen sperm count, stating it’s an existential crisis

By Eliza Frost

Do artists really owe us surprise guests at gigs, or are our expectations out of control?

By Charlie Sawyer

Emma Watson reveals disgusting paparazzi ambush on her 18th birthday

By Abby Amoakuh

MrBeast faces new backlash as fans demand refunds for disastrous Las Vegas immersive experience

By Eliza Frost

Hailey Bieber’s new hands-free lip tint holder has everyone divided 

By Eliza Frost

Gavin Casalegno calls out Team Jeremiah bullying in The Summer I Turned Pretty fandom

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

MrBeast hunts for volunteers to test the viral question: who would win between 100 men and one gorilla?

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

James Toback hit with landmark $1.68 billion jury award after 40 women accused director of sexual abuse

By Charlie Sawyer

Meghan Trainor is not responsible for eradicating fatphobia. But her fans also have a right to be upset

By Charlie Sawyer

Another female influencer has been punched in the head in New York. Is it the same attacker?

By Charlie Sawyer

Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper accuses former soccer coach of sexual harassment in new docuseries

By Charlie Sawyer

Harry Potter TV series crew bewildered over production’s strange decision on location to film iconic scene

By Eliza Frost

Sabrina Carpenter says you need to get out more if you think Man’s Best Friend artwork is controversial