Dekalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris states that the widely circulated reports of a tiger loose in the Mentone area have been investigated and are unfounded.

After receiving several calls concerning a loose wild animal, Sheriff’s Deputies, Mentone Police a School Resource Officer and  the DeKalb County Schools Assistant Superintendent  responded to the area about 4 miles from the Chattooga County line in Mentone.

Kevin Holsonback, Game Warden with the State Wildlife and Conservation Office responded to the scene.

Holsonback and Sheriff’s Office Captain Michael Edmondson took inventory of the area’s Wild Animal Park, using a registry of the facility’s animals compiled by the USDA when it inspected the area approximately two weeks ago. While one animal on the registry was missing, the owner of the park reported that this particular animal had been put down a couple of days ago. Officers Holsonback and Edmondson were shown the corpse of this animal to confirm its location.