I'd like to make a statement on behalf of Tatiana the Siberian tiger who killed a man and injured two others at the San Francisco Zoo.

I've not been retained by Tatiana or her handlers; rather this is pro bono work conducted completely on my own, as I speak for her as uninvited PR counsel.

I'd like to first remind the press my client is a tiger. Tigers are built to kill. You can contain them and even love them, but they still may want to kill you. Especially those who taunt them; tigers don't like that.

There is an investigation underway regarding whether my now shot-dead client was taunted, or actually let loose on purpose. Regardless, I stand behind some basic facts concerning my client.

Taunted or let free, it's not Tatiana's fault for the killing and mauling. Again, for those of you who missed it, she's a tiger. I've studied the martial arts for most of my life, and there's a reason we revere the tiger: They are efficient killing machines with a strong bone structure and the ability to crack a horse's neck with one swipe of the paw.

You cannot blame my client or her kind for killing you, given the chance, any more than you can blame a horse for shitting in a horse stall. That's what they do. That's nature. Nature is not ours to manipulate.

While our thoughts and prayers are with those hurt or killed by Tatiana, our common sense is aligned with the simple thought: She's a freaking tiger!

Tigers, and all animals held in captivity, are not here for our amusement. They are here because they are remarkable creatures worthy of our respect, and it's a gift to us to view them at all, let alone in man-made facilities. Somewhere in this equation and situation, respect was removed as the critical variable it remains.

You shot my client, as you had to, but I'd once more remind you she's a tiger. Hell, taunt my domesticated bulldog, the sweet big bastard that he is, and he'll attack you too.

Let's find some common ground, for the well-being of future tigers: Tigers kill people. Make sure they cannot. If you can't handle this, get out of the business of caging wild animals whose primary instinct is to strike, kill, and eat you.

Get off the tiger's back, and get on the backs of those who engineered her surroundings, or who allowed anything unseemly to transpire resulting in the death of people in accident.

I am not an animal rights nut; quite the contrary. I view human life as clearly superior to animals, given our gifts including free will. Tatiana had no gift of free will. Someone screwed up big-time, and the death count is at 2. Fix your problem San Fran, or get the hell out of the tiger business.