Suzy the tiger appeared in the last Ringling Bros. show in May.
A Georgia woman was stunned when she woke up early Wednesday morning to find a tiger wandering in her backyard.
Read: Tiger That Got Loose on Georgia Highway Shot Dead After Attacking Dog
Suzy the tiger escaped from a truck as she was being transported, along with 13 other circus big cats, from Florida to Tennessee Tuesday. She was pictured walking along a highway and eventually ended up in Brittney Speck’s backyard.
“It was probably almost the size of a minivan," Speck told Inside Edition. "It was a full-grown tiger. But it was just pacing back and forth."
Then, the unthinkable happened as the Bengal tiger went after her beloved dachshund.
“It started to come up the yard toward the gate and ended up launching back at my dog and pouncing on top of her,” she recalled.
The dog, named Journey, escaped with just a few scratches and still has some dried blood on her body.
But the tiger’s days were numbered as motorists called into the local police stations and 911 to report the beast roaming the highway in the Atlanta suburb.
Some 911 dispatchers did not believe what they were hearing and kept asking in surprise, "A tiger?" as if the callers might have gotten it wrong.
Watch: Woman Climbs Over Tiger's Fence at the Zoo to Get Her Hat Back
Police followed Suzy to Speck’s backyard, where she was shot and killed by authorities.
Speck's yard still shows signs of the terrifying encounter, like a paw print.
“Jumanji in my backyard, literally,” Speck said.
Suzy was part of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus act and last performed in May during their final run on New York's Long Island.
A spokesperson for Feld Entertainment, which owns Ringling Bros., says that they are working with law enforcement to find out how the tiger could have escaped.
Watch: Flashback: Watch Mike Tyson Play With His Pet Tiger and Hang Out With Rosanne Barr in 1996
