BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A state judge has refused to order the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to remove an 11-year-old tiger from a truck stop in Grosse Tete.
Judge Michael Caldwell ruled Thursday that he cannot order the executive branch to do that. He also ruled that the Animal Legal Defense Fund and two plaintiffs don't have legal standing to bring up the question.
"There is no legal means for a private citizen to go to a court and ask the judge to order another branch of government to perform what is essentially a discretionary function," said Jennifer Treadway Morris, attorney for Michael Sandlin and his Tiger Truck Stop Inc.
Lisa Franzetta, spokeswoman for the nonprofit group, said it was considering whether to appeal Thursday's decision.
In November, Caldwell ordered the department to revoke the permit for a tiger at Tiger Truck Stop.
ALDF sued last month, saying the department refused to confiscate the animal from the truck stop and its owner, Michael Sandlin, because it has appealed Caldwell's November decision and Sandlin had challenged the constitutionality of Louisiana's ban on private ownership of big cats.
"In no way does today's ruling affect the judge's previous ruling that Michael Sandlin and Tiger Truck Stop can't be granted a permit to keep Tony," Franzetta said. "We were trying to speed up the process of getting Tony away from the truck stop."
Treadway Morris and attorneys for the Animal Legal Defense Fund will be back in State District Court on Monday. Judge Janice Clark has scheduled a hearing on the group's request to intervene in Sandlin's lawsuit.
Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Judge-won-t-order-truck-stop-tiger-s-removal-3531013.php#ixzz1uUlMvCLm
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