I get that Bobby Jindal won't even allow same sex marriages, let alone to release Tony The tiger by laws, but still, we continue that fight!

PETA spearheaded this campaign for many years. We filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state and parish officials, posted action alerts and  wrote countless letters in an effort to get the tigers "retired" (there used to be multiple tigers in two different locations). We wrote to Michael Sandlin, the owner of the truck stop, multiple times offering to help pay the costs of moving the tigers to a legitimate sanctuary.

After years of complaints, in July 2002, the USDA charged Michael Sandlin with violating the Animal Welfare Act, including keeping the tigers in unsound facilities, lack of a veterinary care program and improper nutrition.  Sandlin paid a $1,000 fine and was ordered not to possess or exhibit more than two exotic cats. As a result, Sandlin moved three of his four tigers to a facility in Tennessee, leaving one—Tony—still on display.

Fast forward to 2009. Despite aggressive campaigning over the legality of keeping a wild animal in the parish, local officials voted to allow Sandlin to keep Tony at the truck stop, which opened the door for Sandlin to qualify for a state permit from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The department granted him one and the campaign continued.

In May 2011, a Louisiana district granted the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (ALDF) request for a permanent injunction against the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, preventing the department from renewing Sandlin’s annual permit. The ruling was later upheld under appeal when the court ruled that the permit was illegally issued in the first place. Sandlin will no longer be able to keep Tony confined at the truck stop where he has languished for over a decade.  Sandlin appealed the case yet again.

In October 2013, the Louisiana Supreme Court denied Sandlin’s petition to review the Court of Appeals decision that barred him from keeping a tiger.  But … Sandlin is challenging a 2006 law giving the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries jurisdiction over big and exotic cats.

In April 2014, Louisiana State Sen. Rick Ward introduced Senate Bill 250 to exempt people who hold a USDA Class C exhibitor's license, in other words, Michael Sandlin.


As the case continued to wind its way through the system, we sent an urgent appeal to our Louisiana members to voice their objections to the Louisiana House Natural Resources Committee to reject any change in the law.  Inexplicably, and outrageously, the legislature voted to create a "retroactive exemption" for Sandlin that would allow Tony to stay jammed in a gas station cage.

The Louisiana legislature should be ashamed of itself for creating a loophole to skirt its own state's animal-protection laws just so that one truck-stop owner—who has repeatedly violated federal law by failing to provide tigers with adequate veterinary care and safe and sanitary housing and by handling tigers in a way that causes them undue stress or trauma—can continue to use a caged, deprived tiger as a sad “mascot.”

We called on Governor Bobby Jindal to veto this ludicrous move, and as we have offered for years, PETA stands ready to help transport Tony to the sanctuary that is waiting to give him a real life, where he would finally have acres in which to roam and a real home.

To say that this process has been maddening is an understatement.

Animal Legal Defense Fund Files Lawsuit against Louisiana for Violating State Constitution with New Tony the Truck Stop Tiger Law

Governor Jindal’s Signature on SB 250 Draws National Controversy and Courtroom Showdown
For immediate release:
Contact:
Lisa Franzetta, ALDF
Megan Backus, ALDF
tony-the-tiger-copyright-JS-2014BATON ROUGE—In their ongoing battle to free Tony, a tiger living at Grosse Tete’s Tiger Truck Stop, the national nonprofit Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and former Representative Warren Triche, Jr. filed suit against the State of Louisiana for violating the Louisiana Constitution by passing a law that exempts a single individual from existing state public safety and animal welfare laws. The sole purpose of SB 250, signed by Governor Jindal last week as “Act 697,” is to allow Tiger Truck Stop owner Michael Sandlin to keep the 14-year-old Siberian-Bengal tiger caged in a gas station parking lot––captivity that previously violated Louisiana law, which prohibits the private possession of dangerous large exotic cats. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of former Representative Warren Triche Jr., the Louisiana legislator who sponsored the 2006 big exotic cats ban, as well as other Louisiana residents and taxpayers, in the East Baton Rouge District Court. The defendants include the State of Louisiana, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), the Tiger Truck Stop, and Michael Sandlin.
According to the lawsuit, Act 697 violates the Louisiana Constitution’s prohibition on “special laws” that grant exclusive benefits to any private individual or interest. ALDF seeks an injunction against these privileges given to Sandlin, who has repeatedly sought preferential treatment while openly violating the law. Act 697 would undo several legal victories achieved by ALDF on Tony the tiger’s behalf, and retroactively remove the protections Tony received under the existing ban. Rep. Warren Triche, Jr. explains that “Tony’s situation played a principal role in passing the 2006 bill, as he was a perfect example of why such legislation was needed.” Governor Jindal recently has taken several actions that many see as anti-animal welfare, including signing a bill to declare the blood sport of fox penning part of the state heritage, and vetoing a Republican bill that would have protected dogs in pickup trucks.
In 2011, ALDF successfully sued LDWF for unlawfully issuing Sandlin a permit to exhibit Tony. ALDF was joined in the suit by former Rep. Triche, Jr. and several other Louisiana taxpayers. In April 2013, the Louisiana Court of Appeal held that Sandlin and the Tiger Truck Stop were ineligible for a big cat permit and could no longer keep Tony captive. In October 2013, the Louisiana Supreme Court let that decision stand.
“By vetoing pro-animal laws brought forth by his own party, and signing this unconstitutional law, Governor Jindal has cast a shadow over his aspirations for a national run for the White House,” said Stephen Wells, executive director for the Animal Legal Defense Fund. “The Animal Legal Defense Fund will not allow Tony’s protections to be subverted by backroom politics. Tony deserves to live in a reputable sanctuary, not a gas station parking lot.”
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That I'll never get out of the truck stop & to a real sanctuary home :(