Poor, poor kitties.

I read somewhere once, "Don't be mad at these poor animals, it's not their fault." This is quite true. The ones that we should be mad at are the breeders. THEY are the cruel ones that have caused the suffering of these animals. These poor cats that we hear of more and more often have no idea that they are not supposed to be.

According to Wikipedia, there is a common misconception that 'tigons' are smaller than lions or tigers. They do not exceed the size of their parent species because they inherit growth-inhibitory genes from the lioness mother, but they do not exhibit any kind of dwarfism or miniaturisation either- often weighing around 180 kilograms (400 lb.). It said nothing about gigantism, hurting the mother cat that carries them, or the possibility of the mother dying when the cub is born. Nothing is said at all about the downfalls of having such a large animal. It only tells you about the "good" things.

There are no real good things, though. These animals are a freak of nature. The only ligers and tigons are ones that were bred in captivity. They cannot live on their own, they have conflicting behavior instincts, suffer severe depression, and are prone to cancer and other diseases. Their DNA is not complete. Most of the tigons are born prematurely; they are small and prone to dwarfism. The ligers all suffer from gigantism and grow throughout their lives.

I had been tricked as has the rest of the public. I thought that circuses were cool and that white tigers were one of the world's most beautiful creatures. I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, white tigers are still really pretty, but I have since learned a lot more about them than their color.They are also genetic mutants, created through man-induced inbreeding.

In this world there is, unfortunately, killing for pelts, cross breeding, inbreeding, and ownership. Ownership is what it's mostly about. Think about it: you cannot domesticate a tiger, lion, or other wild animal. They are too wild; too unpredictable (recall Siegfried & Roy).These manmade genetic mutants were never meant to be, and live a life of suffering for the amusement of unthinking, uncaring humans that just want an unusual pet to show off. How sad.