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# Santa Monica No wonder the cat’s out of the bag
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-no-wonder-the-cats-out-of-the-bag-editor/
- Published: 2007-12-27T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T04:37:40.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Jennifer O’Connor People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals*

It’s little wonder that Tatiana, the tiger who escaped from the San Francisco Zoo, longed for her freedom. An Oxford University study published in the journal Nature found that wide-ranging carnivores such as tigers and other big cats “show the most evidence of stress and/or psychological dysfunction in captivity.”

Tigers are designed by nature to roam far and wide, hunt, claim territory, and seek out mates. In captivity, they are denied everything that comes naturally to them and pose a serious danger to the public and keepers alike when they attack or escape. These acts of independence are often their last, as, like Tatiana, most animals who attempt to follow their natural instincts are killed.

How many people and animals must pay with their lives before we acknowledge that big cats don’t belong in captivity?

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 27, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/122707.pdf?ref=smdp.com)