Last Wednesday, the Dallas Police Department seized a tiger cub from a cage found inside of rapper Trapboy Freddy's Oak Cliff residence while they were serving a warrant there.
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According to WFAA, the city police, along with the United States Marshals, took DFW rapper Trapboy Freddy into custody on weapons charges, but, unrelatedly, also apprehended the young tiger, which is now being held by Dallas Animal Services.
While owning wild animals as pets is sometimes legal in Texas, Dallas residents can't domesticate tigers under current laws.
On August 20, the local artist, born Devarius Dontez Moore, posted a response to the situation on his Instagram account where he mentions his love for animals.
"Yes I love animals been loving them my whole life," he wrote in his post. "But I’ve gotten closer to them these last past years since I’ve lost some of my best friends."
From the looks of the accounts tagged on Moore's Instagram bio, it seems that the self-confessed animal lover has some part in two animal businesses.
Trapboy Freddy's Instagram bio. @trapboyfreddy | Instagram
One is a dog breeding venture called @coolmoneykennels that appears to sell various bully breed dogs like French Bulldogs.
The tiger, who's named Nyla can even be spotted on posts throughout the account.
The other tagged account, @animalsonthego__, is called Cool Money Exotics.
Back in July, the profile's first post, which depicts two men holding a snake, revealed that Moore was starting a company with "tigers, monkeys, horses, ponys + many more" for people to come "enjoy a day" with.
According to the local Dallas code, possession of a "dangerous wild animal" is prohibited. Tigers are second on the Texas Health Code's list of animals regarded as dangerous.
The seized Tiger was rumored to be stolen from the Dallas Zoo, but the organization has since debunked it tweeting Friday that all the tigers were accounted for.
"I pray to god Nyla is somewhere safe and getting treated fairly," the rapper mentioned in his Instagram post Saturday. "I love her and can’t wait to see her again."
The plans for Nyla have not been announced, but the police say she is in "protective custody" at an "undisclosed location".