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2011 Animals' Advoc. 1 (2011)

handle is hein.animal/aniad0030 and id is 1 raw text is: Truck Stop Sideshow
ALDF fights to free Tony the tiger from a life of misery

THE STENCH OF FUEL. The deafening sound
of diesel engines. The fumes of gasoline.
Such are the conditions in which Tony, a
10-year-old Siberian-Bengal tiger, has
spent nearly every day and night of the last
decade at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse
Tete, La. It's no life for a tiger, or any other
animal, and as Tony's suffering has
prompted a groundswell of calls for the
truck stop's owner, Michael Sandlin, to
relinquish him to a sanctuary for big cats,
ALDF has been taking legal action. In
November, we petitioned the Louisiana
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
(LDWF) to deny the renewal of the annual
permit allowing Sandlin to exhibit Tony.
Regrettably, the LDWF granted a permit to
display Tony throughout 2011-but ALDF
continues to fight on his behalf.
That's why, as this issue goes to press,

we are considering additional legal
options to force the LDWF to revoke the
permit, which ALDF contends was unlaw-
fully issued. Without a permit, Sandlin
could no longer keep Tony, and he would
have to relinquish him, says ALDF staff
attorney Matthew Liebman. Our hope is
that Tony will one day be able to live out
the rest of his life at a reputable sanctuary,
free from the noise and fumes that cloud
his life at the Tiger Truck Stop.
Tony's enclosure is without any of the
enrichment, such as trees, a large water fea-
ture or complex vegetation, that would sim-
ulate his natural environment and allow
him to perform innate behaviors. Confined
to a cage in the parking lot, Tony-who in
nature would be roaming as much as 1,500
square miles of territory-paces the con-
continued on page 4

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