Tony the Tiger, in his cage at the Tiger Truck Stop in Gross Tete, La. | Photo from FoxNews.com.The long legal saga of a Louisiana truck stop owner’s attempt to keep a Siberian Bengal tiger in a cage at his truck stop may have come to an end this month, as the state’s Supreme Court has denied a petition to hear Tiger Truck Stop owner Michael Sandlin’s case to keep the animal.
The court’s Oct. 4 decision essentially upholds lower court rulings against Sandlin’s ability to keep the tiger.
Rhetoric on Tony the Truck Stop Tiger boils over into truck stop villification
The Gross Tete, La., truck stop has displayed Tony on its grounds since 2000. In 2011, however, the Animal Legal Defense Fund sued the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries for what it said was an unlawful issuance of a permit to allow Sandlin to keep and exhibit the tiger.
The ALDF also said it was cruel of the truck stop to keep the tiger alone in what it deemed to be a cage too small for the animal. In early 2012, a state court judge ruled in the group’s favor and told the state’s wildlife department to stop issuing new permits that allowed the truck stop to keep Tony.
An appeal from Sandlin was heard in February, and the court ruled in April the tiger was not allowed to stay at the truck stop.
Here are some links to previous OD coverage on the Tony the Tiger saga:
- Senior Editor Todd Dills’ Channel 19 blog entry from Jan. 15, 2012, has a summary up to that point as to what had happened with Tony and coverage thereof.
- Also, a Jan. 27, 2012, Channel 19 entry offers one owner-operator’s take on Tony’s situation.
- A Channel 19 entry from April 15, 2011, covered the ALDF’s vilification of Tiger Truck Stop, including a video from the organization showing actress Kristin Bauer speaking out against Tony’s truck stop home.
