Ming was a young tiger, approximately 2 years old, who lived in an apartment on the 5th floor of a large living complex in
HarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands.Harlem has been defined by a series...
, New York in 2003.
His owner, Antoine Yates had several pets in his home, both normal and exotic. At the same time that he was keeping Ming in one of his bedrooms, he was raising an alligator named “Al” in another bedroom.
Ming's existence became known and reported in the media when Yates appeared at a nearby hospital emergency room with deep bite marks in his thigh.
Ming was a young tiger, approximately 2 years old, who lived in an apartment on the 5th floor of a large living complex in
HarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands.Harlem has been defined by a series...
, New York in 2003.
His owner, Antoine Yates had several pets in his home, both normal and exotic. At the same time that he was keeping Ming in one of his bedrooms, he was raising an alligator named “Al” in another bedroom.
Ming's existence became known and reported in the media when Yates appeared at a nearby hospital emergency room with deep bite marks in his thigh. He claimed that his pet pit bull had bitten him, but the medical personnel were suspicious, because the width of the bite marks suggested an animal with a very large jaw.
While Yates was being treated, a New York City policeman was sent to his home address to investigate. Loud growling noises could be heard through the door of the apartment, causing the officer to avoid entering. Another police officer was sent to the roof, from which he lowered himself on a rope sling to peer in through the apartment’s windows. Ming attempted to attack him, nearly breaking through the window, frightening the officer. An animal control team was then sent into the apartment, which anesthetized the tiger and also discovered the alligator.
Subsequent questioning of the neighbors determined that the existence of the tiger was a sort of
urban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, or urban tale, more properly a "'contemporary legend'" is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them...
: some people believed it lived there, while others had always doubted it. One fact that turned up was that Yates regularly bought large quantities of raw chicken at the local supermarket, and it was a standing joke in the building that he could eat so much chicken every day.
Authorities decided to move the animals to more appropriate quarters: Ming was sent to an animal farm in Ohio, while Al was given a new home in New Jersey. Antoine Yates was convicted of keeping dangerous animals in the city, and served a four month prison term.
When he came out, he sued New York City for the loss of his pets, including a brown bunny, and for $7000 cash which he claimed had also been in the apartment. A judge dismissed the case, calling him full of “
chutzpahChutzpah is the quality of audacity, for good or for bad. The word derives from the Hebrew word , meaning "insolence", "audacity", and "impertinence." The modern English usage of the word has taken on a wider spectrum of meaning, however, having been popularized through vernacular use, film,...
”.