The two brothers who survived a tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas day were denied claims seeking unlimited financial damages by the San Francisco City Attorney’s office, documents reveal.

A 250-pound Siberian tigress, named Tatiana that managed to escape its grotto December 25, fatally mauling Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, attacked claimants Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 24 before being shot by police. The brothers contend that they suffered serious injuries and emotional harm during the attack.

On March 26, Attorneys Mark Geragos and Shepard Kopp filed the claims, seeking unspecified financial compensation, on behalf of the Dhaliwal brothers.

A letter signed by City Attorney Dennis Herrera and dated May 8, states there is “no indication of liability on the part of the City and Country” in the incident. Therefore, the claims are denied.

The letter also directs the Dhaliwal brothers to file a claim with the San Francisco Zoological Society, the nonprofit organization that operates the zoo, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The brothers now have six months to file a lawsuit against the city, said Matt Dorsey, a representative for City Attorney Dennis Herrera. “This is sort of a procedural hoop. It would be really unusual for any case where there is a question of comparative fault or liability to be settled in a claim,” he said.

Geragos stated a lawsuit will be filed.

Zoo representative Lora LaMarca declined to comment on the brothers’ claims because of the upcoming lawsuit.

After the tiger attack, Paul Dhaliwal was arrested on unrelated charges that he stole two Nintendo Wii controllers at Target stores in San Leandro between March 24 and March 27.

They had other troubles with the law. On Sept. 7, both brothers were charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest, two misdemeanors. Paul Dhaliwal, the now alleged thief, was also charged with misdemeanor battery on a police officer.