This Beautiful Baby Tiger Was Abused And Neglected At The Hands Of A Traveling Circus. What Rescuers Did For Her Changed Her Life

rescue
August 07, 2017

No animal should be in the circus. It is seriously the most horrific and saddening thing I have ever experienced. A couple years ago the circus was in town and I was super excited to go with my nieces and nephews. When we arrived at the arena where the circus was being held, there were protesters all over outside with signs and people shouting at us, "How could you go to the circus. It's animal cruelty." I was completely turned off by how these protesters were attacking us and I thought they were being ridiculous with the accusations. But boy was I wrong. 

To be honest, I had no idea what I was about to walk into. Lions all torn and tattered. Horses malnourished. Tigers jumping through rings of fire, and my heart broke. I tried to enjoy myself for the sake of my nieces and nephews who were just simply impressed with the animals, not aware of the terrible condition they were in. But after that experience, I said I would never ever attend another circus again.

Now meet Aasha, she is healthy and happy now but she is the perfect example of an animal being treated cruelly at the hands of a circus. Aasha was just 9-months-old when she was rescued from a circus. This poor baby weighed less than a 3-month-old Bengal tiger at the time of her rescue. She had lived her entire life in a cage with another tiger who had bullied her and treated her badly.

But lucky for her, she was rescued by In-Sync Exotics, and organization that cares for and rehabilitates wild animals. Despite being rescued, Aasha already had a rough start to life and it had caused her to be underdeveloped. She was small, her fur was falling out and she had severe skin infections all over her body.

Vicky Keahey of In-Sync Exotics, “Every day, twice a day, I would go in and give Aasha medications and spend time with her.” After 8 weeks of treatment, Aasha began to turn around. Her fur grew back and she became a healthy, happy cub again. After 8 months Aasha looked like a brand new tiger.

It was now time for Aasha to make friends. The staff introduced her to Smuggler, after some supervised visits the two Tigers moved in together and now are completely inseparable. It's now been 4 years since that day and they continue to live happily ever after. Watch the video of the two of them below:

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