Truck Stop Tiger Ruling Overturned

Activists have been fighting for Tony the Siberian-Bengal tiger who’s been living in a concrete cell as nothing more than an attraction for his owner Michael Sandlin at the Tiger Truck Stop in Gross Tete, La., since 2001.

In May, it looked like Tony would see certain freedom when the East Baton Rouge District Court granted the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (ALDF) request for a permanent injunction against the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), preventing them from renewing the annual permit that allows Michael Sandlin to keep Tony as of this December.

Sandlin tried to have the case dismissed in mid-August, but his request was denied by Judge R. Michael Caldwell.

Unfortunately, on August 29, the Louisiana Court of Appeals overturned the ruling on the basis that Sandlin and the truck stop should have been part of the lawsuit, which will lead to a new trial.

“We are confident that the trial court got the law right the first time around and will rule the same way when we go through it again with Mr. Sandlin and the Tiger Truck Stop as parties,” ALDF attorney Matthew Liebman told the AP.

The ALDF is also now asking Louisiana State University, the state’s flagship school, to join the cause after Sandlin painted pretty much everything at the truck stop purple and gold, the school’s official colors.

“The juxtaposition of the LSU colors with a tiger is certainly no coincidence, and it risks associating LSU with a controversial and inhumane exhibit. As you know well, LSU has spent extensive resources to improve its image on tiger welfare, and the Tiger Truck Stop’s infringement on LSU’s color combination and mascot endangers those efforts. Failure to remedy this infringement could be seen as an LSU endorsement of Tony’s captivity,” according to the ALDF.

While the ALDF is working to free Tony, they’re also campaigning for other captive tigers with similar plights. They estimate that there are 5,000 to 10,000 more captive tigers in the U.S. who are classified as “generic,” not purebred, and are therefore not protected as endangered. A USFWS rule exempts these tigers from the permit and reporting requirements that are required for endangered species.

The USFWS just published a proposed rule that would get rid of the “generic” exemption, which would require anyone owning a tiger, regardless of whether or not it’s a purebred, to report how many they have and what type of activities they’re engaged in that involve tigers.

Please submit a comment to the USFWS supporting their proposal to do away with the generic exemption.

Lawsuit Filed to Free Truck Stop Tiger

Speak Up for a Big Cat: A Truck Stop is No Place for a Tiger

Cat Fight Ensues Over Tony the Tiger

Photo credit: Canadian Starhawk via flickr

quick poll

vote now!

Loading poll...

no!
leaning no
leaning yes
yes!

no!
leaning no
leaning yes
yes!

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Susie K.

10:26PM PDT on Apr 28, 2012

FREE TONY NOW! This poor animal has spent his life in misery, ill health and disgusting conditions - surely he is allowed to spend the rest of his life in a decent environment? Another example of how humans profit from the misery of animals - dear Tony, I pray that you will be free from this horror soon

send a green star

federico b.

12:51PM PDT on Apr 28, 2012

TONY libero.

Natalie R.

12:57PM PST on Feb 23, 2012

Excuse me, who are the ones who answered "no"????????????????

Meredith C.

6:44PM PST on Jan 22, 2012

GO ALDF, GO! We are are all with you and Tony!

Julie R.

2:09PM PDT on Oct 4, 2011

It is cruel cruel cruel no matter how you look at it, the animal can't do what normal tigers do in the wild, take it out of this prison and then put this guy in the same situation and leave him for ten years and see how he likes it, it is not natural for wild animals to live like this what does it take to get through to these thicko humans who can't seem to see that, what the human wants the human must have even if it is not what is meant to be, humans go and amuse yourself some other way and leave wild animals alone.

Dianne D.

11:23AM PDT on Sep 30, 2011

Lets pray that the court rule the same and demand immediate removal of Tony.

Susan T.

2:31PM PDT on Sep 17, 2011

Not only go in and take him to freedom but hunt down Sandlin and put him in a tiny cage and pull up several diesel trucks directly in front of his cage and allow them to belch out exhaust until he's blue from inhaling smoke!

He is a very, very sorry example of a human being. Shame on the Louisiana Court of Appeals! Shame on their hateful, soul-less actions. This just gives more credence to my inapprorpriate (and unjustified, of course) view of much of the south--CRETINS! HICKS! HILLBILLYS FOREVER! Forgive me....I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M JUST NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMOR. NO TOURISM FOR YOU LOUISIANA. NADA!

Sunshine N.

6:28AM PDT on Sep 15, 2011

Huhhh! I was so happy to hear he was being released, & now .... :( Do you ever get to the point you just want to go in the dead of night with some bolt cutters?

Sue G.

4:11PM PDT on Sep 14, 2011

@DEE Dee L.
So he has a large yard to play in, lots of things to stimulate him and he's always asleep.
Well is his yard as big as the one in his natural habitat? A male tiger's territory covers 60-100 square kilometers. I've seen Tony's cage on his idiotic owner's website. It's painfully inadequate. There are no trees for him to climb. He'll never know what it's like to hunt. He has a laughable paddling pool and he certainly can't run free, stretching his muscles as he would in the wild. He can never meet a tigress after following scent markings, nor do anything that comes natural to him. Tigers do lounge and sleep after hunting their prey, but if he's always sleeping as Dee Dee L. says, then he must be bored out of his mind, and the things that are meant to stimulate him are obviously not enough and not doing the job.