Police: No, There's No Tiger Loose in Barnegat

After being inundated with phone calls from nervous and curious residents, Barnegat police have issued a firm assurance: 

"A rumor has been circulating on Facebook and other outlets that a tiger is loose in the Barnegat area. This is completely inaccurate and untrue. There are no tigers or reports of tigers in the area."

Barnegat Lt. Keith Germain explained how the story got started.

Sheriff's Department officers went to a township home to execute an arrest warrant, and while there, a resident mentioned they raised Bengal cats in the basement. The resident was actually referring to a special breed of house cat with semi-wild ancestry – a very active breed that requires lots of space to run.

Thinking the resident meant Bengal tigers and finding the situation odd, the Sheriff's officers gave the Barnegat police a heads up, said Germain. When police checked out the basement, they found a large, empty 7-foot-by-12-foot pen, but were told by Fish and Game that there was no way someone could be keeping a tiger in a residential area – noise complaints, a powerful stench of urine and the need to haul in huge chunks of meat regularly would make it impossible, Germain said.

But a few days later, an investigation near Taylor Lane led an officer to discover several very large paw prints in the woods. Figuring the department should go above and beyond to be sure there was no possibility a large cat was roaming loose, police called in an expert to examine the tracks.

The verdict: They were from a large dog. 

Ultimately, Germain said, the misunderstanding was worked out. But the rumors started flying, and police have fielded dozens of calls Friday morning. 

"To confirm," Germain said in an emailed press release, "there are no loose tigers nor reports of loose tigers in the Barnegat area."