Cat Fight Ensues Over Tony the Tiger
posted by: alicia graef 307 days ago
There's one big cat fight going on in Grosse Tete, La. over Tony the truck stop tiger, who appears to be nothing but an attraction for his owner Michael Sandlin.
Activists are currently fighting to have the Siberian Bengal tiger seized from his concrete cage in the parking lot at the Tiger Truck Stop where he lives and moved to a wildlife preserve.
Sandlin is currently violating a public ordinance that prevents people from owning and displaying wild and exotic animals. This also prevents the state Wildlife and Fishery Department from granting him a permit to own Tony. When they gave him 30 days to find Tony a new home, he instead filed a lawsuit.
Sandlin's lawyer will be asking the city council to make an exception and override the ordinance by adding an amendment to the ban of wild and exotic animals. On the other side of the fight, Tony's got some friends including Sky Williamson who has joined her efforts with Big Cat Rescue, who want to see him moved to their accredited preserve.
Williamson, who stumbled upon the truck stop started fighting for Tony in 2005, calls Tony's living situation animal cruelty on display. "I will never forget that day," she said. "It took me down to my knees. There were 15 big trucks lined up nearby, all of them running. The smell was horrid. There was feces all over the cage."
Sandlin, and others on his side argue, in the spirit of let's leave well enough alone, that this is the only home Tony's ever known, so he's better off staying at the truck stop where he is a loved member of the family. If that's a valid argument, then one could also say that a puppy mill is the only home some dogs have ever known, so they're better off staying there too, which obviously makes no sense.
Sandlin also says he's kept tigers there for over 20 years without incident. What he conveniently fails to mention is that he has 20 years worth of USDA violations including unsanitary feeding practices, failure to provide clean water, failure to provide adequate shelter, mishandling tigers, failure to provide veterinary care and the most recent on the list being failure to clean cages and maintain adequate sanitation in 2007.
Those USDA violations sure do scream loving home, don't they?
Carole Baskin, chief executive officer of Big Cat Rescue, who has repeatedly offered to take Tony, said that even if he did get approval, "There is no way to turn a truck stop into a suitable environment for a tiger."
Imagine for a moment what it would be like to be a tiger. Now imagine what it would be like to be a tiger stuck in a concrete cage under constant lighting surrounded by the fumes and deafening sounds of the highway and diesel engines from the truck stop while people taunt and throw things at you to get you to move day after relentless day after relentless day.
Check out this YouTube video comparing the two situations and decide.
The Council will be meeting again to decide Tony's fate on Tuesday the 17th.
Sign Care2's petition to send Tony to a wildlife preserve here.
You can also send a form letter directly to the Iberville Parish here.
Read more: cats, usda, animal welfare, animal cruelty, tony the tiger, michael sandlin, big cat rescue, tiger truck stop, sky williamson, carole baskin
comments
How can this cruelty and torture be allowed to continue - even a domestic animal would be stressed locked up and imprisoned in such unhealthy conditions, on his own. Tony needs to be with his own kind, in an environment where he can use his incredible intelligence, and strength, where be happy, living a fulfilling life...
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Sky W.,
Please keep on fighting for Tony! It is people like you who will do the most good. I don't know how to become an animal advocate, or I would do it as well. This man doesn't "love" Tony. He has no idea what love is.
Allesandra R., very well put, thank you. If you haven't been yet, please go to: www.FreeTony.com. There is information there about who to contact in Tony's behalf. I used to live in Florida, and the Big Cat Rescue, who are trying to get Tony released to them, are the best bet for him to live out the remainder of his life in peace and happiness. The owner of this tiger should spend a month in the concrete cell himself, with nobody coming around to clean the feces and urine out of his cage and no way to avoid lying in it. He should have to lie there under the bright lights, with the noise and diesel fumes preventing him from ever sleeping soundly. He should have to eat the kind of slop that he feeds Tony.
Please do go to the Free Tony website mentioned above, and tell everyone that you know to please go there as well and take up Tony's cause. The more people that band together against him, the better the odds of Michael Sandlin having to give Tony up. And the day that it happens will be cause for celebration for so many of us!
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I have been trying to tell the large animal organizations about this truck stop for over 15 years now and no one has been able to remove the animals. I hope that someone finally will.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Mr Sandlin sure doesn't look as if he is lacking care and attention. This clip brought tears to my eyes and I pray for Tony constantly. The man is so deluded if he thinks he is providing suitable conditions for this beautiful animal. A tiger should be free to live his life as God intended---he is not an accessory, a plaything, a status symbol, or a fairground attraction. He is a living creature who needs to be able to enjoy his life as God intended. Mr Sandlin seems to see him as a money spinner and an advertisement for his truck stop. I don't think he knows the meaning of 'love'. If he did he would allow Tony to go to Big Cat Rescue where he could be happy.
MR SANDLIN----IF YOU LOVE TONY, DO THE RIGHT THING AND LET HIM BE A HAPPY TIGER, PLEASE.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/40810957.html
TONY UPDATE!
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Only by reading Tony the Tigers story tears came to my eyes, I can only imagine what poor Tony is feeling and going through day by day. Alone in his small cage, stared at and teased by passers who at times have even thrown things at him. Tony is being humiliated. How can this be allowed?
I would like to see the person who is keeping Tony in that cage put in a cage himself. That way he can live what Tony has been living, he then should be asked “how do you feel?” and “do you like what you’re feeling?” I am sure he wouldn’t at all enjoy the so called life Tony is living, maybe then he would understand what Tony is obligated by him to see as a life, he should be ashamed of what he is putting Tony through, Tony isn’t living a life he is living an inferno.
It would be wrong to put a person in a cage, so why should there be even the slightest possibility of allowing someone to put a tiger or wild animal in a cage?
Tony has continuous noises all around him, instead of the beautiful sounds of nature he should be hearing. He is humiliated every day by people treating him as an attraction, as a show. Why is this be allowed?
I believe no one should even have to think about the answer, it should be automatic to think “a WILD animal should have the right to be WILD.” He is a wild animal not a toy or a game, he shouldn’t be in a cage or in a back garden and definitely not at a truck stop!
Wild animals should be in the wild were they
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Not only does poor Tony need to go to a sanctuary, but Sandlin needs to be brutally beaten to unconsciouness! That man is one of the sorriest excuses for a human being I have ever encountered! He's a sick, sick man! May he rot in hell!
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Have you all been to www.FreeTony.com PLEASE watch all the videos provided, they are heart breaking and breth taking but still Tony sits at Tiger Truck Stop I-10 exit 139....
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
The Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, Indiana might be able to take him. That is what they do and they are a fantastic place for big cats to live out their live. Large enclosures, proper care, etc.
Mona
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
PLEASE whom ever is organizing this contact the Govenor and the Senator of Loiusana.
To successfully contact a Senator...call the number you get from the Internet and ask for help. Have an email ready to send to the contact person who speaks to you detailing the case with tel. numbers and facts so they can easily verify it. Then, call out the Internet reinforcements entreating them to call to tell the Senators to take action on the case. You can furnish the senators' phone numbers in the email to MAKE IT EASY for people to call!
Maybe Bobby Jindahl, Louisiana Governor... He seems to be a great guy on TV…ORDINANCES ARE important...and if that town knew the Governor's was looking into the tiger problem...they would be more inclined to act appropriately. Funny, how when the spotlight is turned on...people's behavior changes...
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Facebook account:
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
1049286