Grosse Tete truck stop can continue live tiger exhibit, state agency says NOLA.com
Despite a strong push from animal-rights activists, the state has granted a truck stop owner a permit allowing him to continue exhibiting a live tiger as a roadside attraction at his Grosse Tete business.
The Advocate reports the permit issued by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries allows Tiger Truck Stop to keep Tony, a 10-year-old Siberian-Bengal tiger, on display throughout 2011.
Wildlife and Fisheries press secretary Bo Boehringer said Thursday that Tony is the last privately owned big and exotic cat in the state.
Boehringer said the permit was required after a 2006 legislative action gave regulatory authority over private ownership of potentially dangerous animals to Wildlife and Fisheries.
Tony is a 11 year old Siberian/Bengal tiger used as a roadside attraction at Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete Louisiana. Tony’s owner, Michael Sandlin, has bought, sold, bred, and exhibited tigers for OVER 20 years. In 2003, because of violations and fines, Mr. Sandlin and the USDA made an agreement where 3 of the 4 tigers he owned, Toby, Khan and Rainbow, were sent to Tiger Haven in Kingston TN. The USDA reduced the fines and allowed Michael Sandlin to keep one tiger, Tony.
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