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This undated photo shows a tiger in Houston. Houston police say some people who went into an abandoned home to smoke marijuana found a caged tiger. They called the city on Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, and the major offender animal cruelty unit and animal shelter volunteers arrived on the scene. (Lara Cottingham/Administration & Regulatory Affairs Department via AP)

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In this Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019 photo, a tiger that was found in a Southeast Houston residence awaits transport to a rescue facility at the BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions building in Houston. A woman who called Houston's non-emergency dispatch line after discovering a tiger inside a cage at an abandoned home told the shocked dispatcher: "I'm not lying." Police say a group of people looking for a place to smoke marijuana happened across the tiger on Monday, Feb. 11. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Woman finds tiger in house, tells dispatch: 'I'm not lying'

By Associated Press Houston

PUBLISHED 2:32 PM ET May. 09, 2019

HOUSTON (AP) — A woman who called Houston's non-emergency dispatch line after discovering a tiger inside a cage at an abandoned home told the shocked dispatcher: "I'm not lying."

The Houston Chronicle obtained a recording of the call after animal rescue workers found the well-fed animal resting on a bed of hay Monday inside a cage they said could be easily opened.

Police say a group of people looking for a place to smoke marijuana happened across the tiger on Monday. The woman told the dispatcher: "It's pretty big." Authorities say the animal weighed 350 pounds (159 kilograms).

Investigators have leads into who owned the tiger but say it may not be the person who owns the property.

The tiger has been moved to an animal sanctuary in Texas. The tiger was nicknamed "Tyson" after the movie "The Hangover."