Do tigers sleep in lily patches?

TWO OF THE FOUR TIGER CUBS DIE AT MGM MIRAGE

Liberty and Justice have just passed away from infection at the MGM Mirage. Just two short month ago, Beetle the bottle nosed dolphin, also died at The Secret Garden.

We don't have much time to save Hirah and Mahatani the remaining cubs. I am emploring you to help make this petition reach a larger audience.

The full statement from Siegfried and Roy is as follows:

Dear Friends and Adopted Family,
We write today to share the devastating news of the passing of two of the newest additions of our animal family, Liberty and Justice. I'm very sorry I have to inform you of this bad news, especially since you all have supported the cubs from Day 1. We owe it to you to let you know the truth at all times. 

Despite the heroic efforts of a team of veterinary experts working closely with our animal care specialists, these two Ambassadors of Conservation were overwhelmed by an infection that ultimately caused their kidneys to fail just days apart.

Know that their sisters, Hirah and Maharani, show no signs of this infection and are growing bigger and stronger by the day.

Their passing was very close to the observation of “Totensonntag,” a special day of observance in our native Germany. Not since the passing of Mantacore have Siegfried and I been hit this hard. All the flags at Little Bavaria are at half-mast. Even though we only had a short time together, they changed our lives and will be greatly missed.

I still have in front of my eyes the picture of Liberty and Justice being born, so we knew each other from the first moment they took their breaths. In our church at Little Bavaria there's always a candle lit for each.

Farewell our angelic Prince and Princess – as we know, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. This is the darkest and saddest Holiday Season we’ve ever had, but we take comfort that we had the privilege to love our innocent little creatures and were blessed to be connected with them on a spiritual level. 

We now have two more guardian angels to watch out for us and ever greater motivation to continue our efforts to protect and preserve these extraordinary gifts of nature.

PRESERVING ANIMALS IN AN APPROPRIATE SANCTUARY IS ONE THING. BREEDING THESE CUBS TO LIVE IN CAPTIVITY IS A TRAVESTY!!!!

WE MUST STOP THEM, NO MATTER HOW WEALTHY OR WELL INTENDED THEY APPEAR TO BE, COLLECTING WILD ANIMALS IS WRONG!!



Thank you to all who came out to the protest this afternoon! At peak we had about 25 activists, with that number tapering towards the end.

Thanks, also, to the HPD officers that showed up, Houston Press, and the Houston Chronicle.

We'll keep you posted on our future events! Happy Holidays!

Click here to visit www.FreeHoustonTigers.com and click "The Plan."

Free the Tigers at Houston's Downtown Aquarium. Houston's Downtown Aquarium has been the home to four white Bengal tigers since 2005. These tigers are held indoors at all times in a small, stressful, and inhumane environment.

The aquarium is one of several of the "Downtown Aquarium" branded restaurants owned by Landry's, Inc. An aquarium-themed restaurant is not an acceptable habitat for tigers to live. The tigers at Houston's aquarium are denied everything that is natural to them, and are not even allowed outside.

We're petitioning Landry's, Inc. to transfer the tigers at this facility to either a large cat sanctuary in the United States, or a nearby zoo more appropriate for caring for these types of animals. We're also asking the Association for Zoos and Aquariums to reevaluate the facility's accreditation.

We need your support to help these tigers. Please take just a moment to sign this petition. Thank you.
LETTER TO
Landry's, Inc.
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
CityPASS
The white tiger exhibit at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston, Texas is inhumane. We insist that Landry's immediately transfer the tigers to a more capable zoological facility or a wildcat sanctuary. We also urge the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to reevaluate the accreditation of the Downtown Aquarium property, and for CityPASS to drop their partnership with the attraction.
Tony, a Siberian-Bengal Tiger, lives a dismal life as a roadside attraction at a truck stop in Louisiana. He has been there for over a decade, imprisoned in a cloud of diesel fumes and constantly taunted by visitors. Tony’s heartless owner is using his power and influence in the state to keep this hapless tiger captive.
Take Action!
. Yo Gov! Why'd u sign a bill EXEMPTING someone from a state law that BANS Private Ownership of Big Cats?
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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, 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.”
Cruelty Alert! 5 Horrific Roadside Zoos and Menageries for Exotic Animals in the U.S.
That I'll never get out of the truck stop & to a real sanctuary home :(

Tube Lyrics
(Anastasio/Fishman)
© Who Is She? Music, Inc (BMI)

An asteroid crashed and nothing burned
it made me wonder:
Do tigers sleep in lily patches? 
Do rhinos run for thunder?

I got an ache in my left ear
I felt a twinge but I still could hear
Made me think I would not be burned
but rather give myself to science
I felt that I could help
To science, I felt that I can help

Paranoid the doctor ran
shouting his graphic translation
A fortnight of turmoil
gang wars and ails of riches
Spewing forth their color
he purposely waited till I was done
to knock on the lavatory door 
accusing me of ruining the fun
he knocked on it some more
The fun, He knocked on it some more

Alloyed suitors drawn inside
an apple or a grape
To put forth a cloud of mercury 
he was run over by a car
on a freeway in Los Angeles 
once the spraying has been done
'Cause there's more pain from necessity
you're a portrait of your past
There's a mummy in the cabinet
Are there no more arrows left?

What's that rubber bottle doing here? 
How's that napkin for a proof?
Ten cents to a dollar now 
for a shelf of pregnant eggs
Robert Palmer is implored to dance, to dance, to dance

It's so stupendous, living in this tube!