The saga surrounding Joan Byron-Marasek and her Tigers Only Preservation Society compound on Route 537, Jackson, appeared to be at an end this week as the state-ordered removal of her 24 animals took place.
The tigers should have a new home in San Antonio, Texas. That must please some people who moved to the area near where Byron-Marasek had kept her tigers since the mid-1970s and later claimed they did not feel comfortable living near the animals.
When a tiger roaming loose was shot and killed near Byron-Marasek’s property in January 1999, fingers were quickly pointed at the so-called "Tiger Lady." It had to be hers, right?
She maintained that the wayward tiger had not escaped from her property.
Greater Media News-papers attempted to pursue the question of whether the tiger that had been killed did belong to Byron-Marasek. State officials eventually said that was not at issue, but the conditions on her property were.
As far as we can tell, no one ever apologized to Byron-Marasek for falsely accusing her of letting a tiger escape.
A Greater Media News-papers reporter who was granted access inside the property in March 1999 did not observe any conditions that appeared to indicate there were health or safety concerns. The state, however, saw it differently and refused to renew the permit Byron-Marasek had held for years.
There’s something that still bothers us and should concern residents who never got the answer to the following: One, if the tiger that was killed in 1999 did not belong to Byron-Marasek, who did it belong to? Two, does that owner, who is apparently unknown to authorities, have any more tigers that might one day wander free again?