0 Officials ID owner of tiger shot, killed while roaming metro neighborhood 
 
 HENRY COUNTY, Ga. - The Georgia Department of Natural Resources said charges are pending against the owner of a Bengal tiger that escaped overnight in Henry County and was shot and killed by police Wednesday morning. 
 
 Triple Team Traffic first reported the tiger sightings from dispatch, who said they received several calls about the wild animal on the loose. 
 
 [Download the Triple Team Traffic app for alerts in your area] 
 
 DNR said the owner of the tiger is Florida based Feld Entertainment Inc. which has offices in Atlanta. 
 
 The big cat was first spotted along Interstate 75 and ended up in a nearby neighborhood in two backyards. 
 
 It was shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday when Connie Kidd said her brother ended up face-to-face with massive cat. 
 
 "He was actually putting his things in the truck to go out of town, and turned around. The tiger was standing there," Kidd told Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen. 
 
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 "I was getting off 75 on Jodeco Road, and there is literally a tiger," a witness told a 911 operator after seeing the tiger. 
 
 "A tiger?" the operator answered. 
 
 "Walking down the ramp," the caller said. 
 
 The 911 calls then started flooded in and Henry County police say they were forced to shoot the big cat after it ended up in a neighborhood off Jodeco Road where they say it went after a homeowner's pet. 
 
 [READ: Other exotic animals spotted metro Atlanta] 
 
 "It' s definitely a dangerous animal and shouldn't be taken lightly," Lt. Colonel Jeff Weaver with the Georgia DNR told Petersen. 
 
 DNR said the tiger was being transported from Florida to Tennessee. According to representative with Feld Entertainment, the tiger's name was Suzy, was 6 years old and was one of 14 tigers being transported. 
 
 The tigers were being held at a property in Tampa until they could be shipped back to Europe after Ringling Brothers closed. 
 
 The truck stopped for the night in Georgia and the animal escaped unnoticed. An examination of the cat revealed a microchip which was linked to the owners. 
 
 "Any time an animal is held in Georgia or transported through Georgia--and you stop--it has to be permitted," Weaver said. 
 
 Officials spent most of the day searching for the tiger's owner. 
 
 DNR said the owners of the big cat didn't realize she was missing until the truck arrived in Tennessee. 
 
 They say Feld Entertainment, which also owned the Ringling Brothers circus, contacted DNR after seeing news reports about the tiger. 
 
 Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary in Henry County released the following statement Wednesday morning: 
 
 "Noah's Ark was contacted by Henry County Police with reports of a loose tiger on I-75. We responded immediately and were on the way to the scene with hopes of chemically immobilizing the tiger and bringing it to Noah's Ark. Unfortunately, human life became at risk and the tiger was shot by the authorities. All of our tigers are accounted for. Thank you to the officers for trying their best to bring this animal to safety." 
 
 PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, offered a reward of up to $2,500 for the identity of the tiger's owner. 
 
 Just interviewed the man who spotted the Tiger. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/aKDjPE28Om — Audrey Washington (@AudreyWSBTV) September 6, 2017 
 
 © 2018 Cox Media Group. 

 Officials say the owners of a tiger shot and killed early Wednesday after being spotted on Interstate 75 have been identified. 
 
 Georgia Department of Natural Resources said that an official with Feld Entertainment, a company contracted to transport the tiger, saw news reports of the morning incident and contacted officials. 
 
 "This afternoon, after seeing news reports, an official with Feld Entertainment, Inc., a company contracted to transport the tiger, contacted Georgia DNR Law Enforcement to report the missing animal from a shipment, which was traveling from Florida to Tennessee. The truck had stopped in Georgia during the overnight hours and during that stop, the female Bengal tiger managed to escape unnoticed. Feld discovered that she was missing when the truck arrived at the destination." 
 
 Feld Entertainment is a live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows, including the now-closed Ringling Bros and Barnum&Bailey Circus. 
 
 The company said the tiger's name was Suzy, and the 6-year-old animal was being transported from Sarasota, Florida to Tennessee where she was to be flown to Germany for a European circus. 
 
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 They issued a statement to say: "We are continuing to work with the proper authorities while this case is being investigated. This is a sad day.” 
 
 The question of the tiger's owner was on everyone's mind after it was shot and killed by police in Henry County early Wednesday morning. 
 
 Police were initially called about the loose animal around 6 a.m. It was spotted on Interstate 75 near the Jodeco Road overpass. 
 
 HEAR THE AUDIO: 911 CALLS: 'There's a tiger in the front yard' 
 
 When police arrived, they said the tiger began to run toward the Meadow Brook community off of Jodeco Road. 
 
 Authorities said they shot and killed the tiger after it began to attack a dog in the backyard of a home. 
 
 According to officials, there was no necropsy performed on the tiger, which was cremated. Preliminary information leads officials to believe the tiger was born in captivity and was a victim of the exotic animal trade. 
 
 There were no apparent injuries to the animal, and the tiger did have claws and a full set of adult teeth. 
 
 Pictures from Henry County police show a live tiger walking along I-75 
 
 RELATED: Owner's dog attacked by tiger : 'She's a little shaken up.' 
 
 Georgia Department of Natural Resources said that the state has only issued four permits to keep a tiger in Henry County, and all four went to Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary. 
 
 Noah's Ark Animal Shelter posted on their Facebook page that all of their tigers have been accounted for. 
 
 Zoo Atlanta told 11Alive that both of its Sumatran tigers were accounted for. 
 
 According to Georgia DNR, the requirements to own a tiger in Georgia are: 
 
 - Must be a business. 
 
 - Must have a USDA license. (check with USDA for requirements) 
 
 - Must have liability insurance ($40,000 for each inherently dangerous animal with a maximum of $500,000) 
 
 - Animal must be housed in a facility that is detached from their home. 
 
 PETA had offered a reward of up to $2,500 for the identity of the tiger's former owner. 
 
 "Wild animals belong in the wild, and when dangerous apex predators are confined to private homes or for entertainment, the consequences can be fatal," says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. "This escaped tiger's owner must be found, and PETA invites anyone else harboring exotic animals in Henry County to come forward to help get them transferred to reputable sanctuaries." 
 
 Photos show tiger killed in Henry Co. 

 Story highlights Bengal tiger got away while it was being shipped from Florida to Memphis 
 
 It was shot dead after attacking a dog 
 
 (CNN) Officials now know how a Bengal tiger was found roaming around a community in metro Atlanta: It had slipped out unnoticed from its enclosure as it was being transported. 
 
 Alarmed residents made multiple calls to 911 on Wednesday after seeing the animal, said Capt. Joey Smith of Henry County police. For hours, people wondered how the female tiger came to roam through several locations near Interstate 75 and Jodeco Road in the metro Atlanta county. 
 
 Police eventually shot the tiger dead after she attacked a dog. 
 
 Feld Entertainment, which had been contracted to move the tiger, said it does not know how Suzy got out while she was being transported from Tampa, Florida, to Memphis, Tennessee. 
 
 A truck carrying the 6-year-old Suzy had made a stop in Georgia overnight, officials said. 
 
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– "There is a tiger walking down the exit ramp onto the interstate," 911 operators in Georgia heard Wednesday, prompting a feverish response from police and plenty of speculation on how the animal got there. That mystery is now solved. A microchip implanted in the female Bengal tiger, shot and killed as it attacked a dog in Henry County early Wednesday, revealed the animal belonged to Feld Entertainment, a live production company that formerly operated the Ringling Bros. circus, reports WXIA. The 6-year-old tiger named Suzy had escaped unnoticed from a truck carrying the animal from Florida to Tennessee when the vehicle stopped in Georgia overnight. Residents, however, were quick to notice Suzy wandering a residential area around 6am. Brittney Speck, who spotted the tiger on a neighbor's property, was one of several people to call 911. Moments later, she says the tiger jumped a fence into her backyard and attacked her dog. That's when police arrived and "started firing rounds," Speck tells CNN. While her dachshund was remarkably unhurt, the tiger was killed "quickly and humanely" as was "necessary for public safety," says a rep for Georgia's Department of Natural Resources. The department—which notes Feld Entertainment only realized the tiger was missing when its truck arrived in Memphis, where Suzy was to board a flight to Germany—tells WSB that charges are pending. According to a Feld rep, "this tiger was raised by its owner since it was a cub. Clearly, this was a tragic accident."