Wednesday 4 March 2009

Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La



Please help Tony the tiger. Boycott Sandlin's truck stop. I, for one, am on the side of the decent, thoughtful and caring people who want to remove the tiger from Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La. I don't care if "Tony" is a "pet". The owner (Mr. Sandlin) of Truck Stop argues these points in favor of keeping his pet tiger in a cage to enhance business:
  1. "The tiger enhances business" - yes but the tiger wouldn't enhance business if people didn't come to your business to eat and that might be achievable if the people who cared about animals made a lawful protest on public property outside your place. If I were there, I would. And in thinking as he does, Mr Sandlin gives us a clue as to what is his true love. It is not Tony that is for sure, it is money. We normally keep companion cats because we like indeed love and care for them (and they for us, in their way). But how can this be the case with Tony? This tiger is forced to breathe diesel fumes day in and day out. These fumes contain very small particles. A particle is called PM10. They are less than 10 micrometers in diameter. This allows them to penetrate deep into the lung, where they can aggravate respiratory disease. Tony is very close to a ton of PM10 and Mr Sandlin doesn't care. He thinks he is caring for Tony. He is deluded.
  2. "Tony is my pet" - yes but the tiger doesn't know that and the better phrase is "companion animal" and in any case if you cared about "your pet" you would not keep him locked up in a cage all the time. I can only presume (I actually know, as do us all) that you care more for financial profit. Profit is always the overriding reason why the tiger suffers and is becoming extinct in the wild in this world. Tony's owner is fooling himself if he thinks he is treating his Tony well.
  3. Sandlin says it is an infringement of his rights to remove Tony to a reserve. We share the planet with other animals Mr Sandlin and in a better world they have rights too. At a basic level Tony has the right to live as near a natural life as possible. He cannot be returned to the wild as he never was in the wild, as I understand it, but he can have more space and tigers need plenty of space. The Amur tiger, for instance, requires up to 40 square kilometers of territory to be able to feel natural in. I believe your cage is about 20 meters square. That .000025% of the desired amount of space. Mr Sandlin, you have no idea what is going through the mind of this tiger but it is probably a kind of slow torture.
  4. Mr. Sandlin makes other unsupportable arguments.
The best we can do is this. To make the point to Mr Sandlin that it is not commercially profitable to keep a tiger outside his establishment and for that matter it is also bad for business to keep a stuffed one inside as well. The video below shows the 4 year old stuffed white tiger that apparently died of unknown causes. Far for me to suggest that Mr Sandlin killed the tiger so he could have one inside the restaurant as well as outside!!



This is a comment made in relation to the above video on YouTube showing Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La:

"and YES i have visited tony 4 times and i know that he gest the right amount of treatment medical , food, and playtime! you shouldve seen how he was when he was being fed the loudest purr i have ever heard! doesnt a purr mean they are content? seriously people wake up! seriously ppl if you feel guilty about being born privliged then maybe you should start your charity/activism at home and free your cat(s) LOL in the mean time leave the rest of us alone! tony included!!"

This is what we are up against. This person is very short sighted and I don't mean in respect of his eyes. He makes a bizarre statement (I guess intended to be an insult) by claiming that people who care about the welfare of animals are "born privileged". Perhaps he is saying that people who are rich can afford to have animal rights and those who are poor have to use whatever means possible to make money. That might carry some merit but it does not support Mr Sandlin's cause because he is not poor, he is probably quite wealthy. In short in relation to most of the world's peoples he is very, very privileged. And purring does not necessarily signify contentment. Cats sometimes purr when frightened. See cats purr. The argument about Tony receiving medical treatment is valid (if true) but is completely overridden by the wholly inappropriate conditions under which he is kept. Tony probably needs lots of medical treatment as a result!

Mr Sandlin of Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La., is driven by the god money, play against him on that field of play and you will eventually win. Boycott his damned business...........Here is a video of a hearing. The people presiding look as if they have made up their minds and are disinterested:



Here is on of many comments from BanWolfHunting on the video:
Sky Williamson is my new hero. And what a pathetic bunch that committee was, to do nothing. They should be voted out of office.
I just wish you could have videoed the tiger and his crummy little cage up close, to better show people how disgraceful and shameful keeping him captive is.
What a sad, pathetic place this truckstop must be. I just may have to stop by there and film it myself and help these white trash truckstop owners lose their "family" to a better place like BCR.
Here is another video at another hearing:



And here is an example of the comments generated (this is just one):
djbethell Shame on these blind people. That poor, poor animal. How slow they are in seeing what is right in front of them. It's times like these that I despair at the stupidity and unconcious actions of some people. Keep fighting the good fight. Truth will out.



Update 14th April 2009: The local Parish President J. Mitchell Ourso Jr, has, I understand, met with Mr Sandlin to discuss improvements to the tiger's living quarters. Well, that is something and I hope it results in action. But it is no where near enough. However Mr Ourso deserves a medal as he was going against the wishes of his council in trying to improve the tiger's living conditions.

Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La to Wild Cat Species

13 comments:

  1. Hello,

    I am one of those people who is trying to get Tony out of truck stop and out of the clutches of Sandlin. The videos you have on your blog are from Big Cat Rescue and some of my friends who have posted these wholly accurate depictions of Tony's meager existence. I came upon your site by accident and have linked it to my Blog here at Blogger. I am still creating that but I have a profile page in CARE2-we are a large community of animal rights activists who together have realized a great many victories lately-not which, unfortunately, was Tony's freedom-but we have made inroads by calling world attention to him. It is quite a tug of war. We will continue to fight for him no matter what.

    I really am really enjoying your highly enlightening Blog. Thank you-

    Raffi at theLidoShuffle

    http://www.care2.com/c2c/people/profile.html?pid=160802723

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Raffi, thanks for the comment. I am in London, England but would love to help. All I can do is make a post on the blog.You guys are at the sharp end and I wish you all well in achieving Tony's excape from imprisonment. I am sure it is a mighty difficult task as business runs the world and business is powerful. I will link to you.

    I have just skimmed your profile. You are the kind of woman I like! You love animals and fight for them. I hate the way two-legs hurts four-legs so often. Yes, there are many tender caring people who protect animals but also far too many who use and abuse.

    My profile is here:

    Creator of website Pictures of Cats.org

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jeff McClellan4 June 2009 at 18:32

    This Comment is for Micheal,Sir you are an idiot!!!!!
    I have been stopping at this Truck stop for years,ever since Tony was a baby.I for one enjoy watching him grow up,too bad we can't feed you to him,but you would probably poisen him.
    I guess you'd rather keep your dog in an apartment while you are at work.
    I will back Mr.Sandlin 100%,I have seen the care that "Tony" gets,I have watched them feed him and brush him,and brush his teeth.
    Jeff(beaverpleazer)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Michael,

    I just got your last comment and I was blown away-stunning...I have sustained a very serious injury some time ago so I have just begun to catch up with things-I will tell you-we are monitoring Tony -and I don't think the guy who left that prior comment and I are on the same page.

    Sandlin has to abide by the demands put forward by Ourso so we will see how things go with that. Meanwhile I am in contact with both sanctuaries who are waiting to take him should things fall through-

    The last person who posted has obviously not read the laundry list of USDA citations against Sandlin for the last twenty years or seen the stuffed tiger over the salad bar in the garage...

    Thanks Michael-will be in touch-You're the cat's meow, my friend-Raffi

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Raffi, the person who made that rude comment attacking me personally is so typical of the kind of person who supports the kind of thing that we see (and know) as wrong. Some people are very blind and they fail to produce good arguments to support their actions so resort to being rude and uncouth. I find the pathetic and their comments laughable. I get a few of these sorts of comments. They are from the sort of people that make the world worse.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have been to Tigers Truck Stop a few times from 1999 to 2002. I was shocked to see how the animal lives. I took pictures too! I live in Canada and here we are not allowed to have animals locked up and living like this! We have zoos for that! I was so upset seeing this poor tiger living like this! I heard that the animal was rescued, till I just read that you are still fighting to have the tiger live in Big Cat Rescue! I am shocked to see that the tiger has lived like this for so many years! Contact the president of the USA, get him to have the animal removed. This just saddens my heart so! As for the white tiger on the salad bar, well it was not there when I was going there to The truck-stop! Free that poor animal from the life it is living! God Bless the Animals and the rescue people!
    Sincerely,
    Lady

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had no Idea something like this was going on! I am shocked at the treatment of this tiger. But the narrow mindedness of certain people doesn't surprise me. There was a guy who went to the Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Mountain Village(one of the biggest tiger farms in china) and had absolutely no idea it was a tiger farm. He actually paid money to take a picture with a sedated bear saying that it was fast asleep he also pointed out the sheep among the baby tigers in the "march of the baby tigers" in hilarity, whilst being completely unaware of this sad display of how having raised the cubs away from their mothers has diminished their natural instinct for hunting. You can see this article at http://www.travelchinatour.com/jim-china-travel-blog/travelogue-by-cities/guilin-xiongsen-bear-tiger-zoo-1.html Could this be that these people are simply misinformed? Are they just too blind? Or are they those who display the mentality of "I don't know a lot about tigers and I don't need to know more." these are the kind of people who will turn a blind-eye to the truth in order to ensure their mental contentment that, "whatever everyone is doing is right and there is no use questioning things." In regard to the white tiger, if buying/selling tiger products/parts is illegal, shouldn't being in possession of said products be illegal? (I should make an article about this, either the ignorance, or the possession of tiger products)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Holly Ann

    Great comment. Thanks for the input. Make it an article too for the PoC site.

    By the way Freddie Fox is my Google user name. My name is Michael.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi, can you find out what happened to the Facebook page devoted to saving Tony from his fate? It is gone and all links are broken.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi, response to last comment. I don't think that I can help. This not because I don't want to. I don't know what is happening on Facebook.

    I do know that this tiger's incarceration is sick and sad and a symptom of what is wrong.

    Thanks for commenting. I am too busy to research this. I had a brief look at Facebook and found some live links but not much info.

    Google: "facebook tiger truckstop grosse tete".

    ReplyDelete
  11. HOW CAN I HELP???I was horrified when I read about Tony. They brush his teeth? Are you kidding me? So this is supposed to make up for the meager small cage he is forced to live in?
    He should be in a rescue shelter where he can roam and roar with pride and happiness. There is a wonderful rescue shelter in Indiana..Exotic Feline animal rescue. They have a "Tony" too. Lots of space with real dirt and grass and trees. Imagine that. I am on board to see that Tony is rescued and moved to live out the rest of his beautiful life in fresh air in the company of others just like him. HOW CAN I HELP FROM INDIANA?

    ReplyDelete
  12. There is a Facebook page dedicated to having Tony moved to a Big Cat Rescue sanctuary in Tampa, FL. The page is at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Free-Tony-The-Tiger/328048525558

    There is also a petition at: http://www.change.org/petitions/view/boycott_tiger_truck_stop

    There is also a list of government officials in Grosse Tete on the petition page. I've written them several e-mails. Please join the effort to help give Tony a better quality of life.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow! Human beings keep impressing me! So stupid, so ignorant, so careless. And people backing the owner of the tiger. WTF? Isn't it obvious that this environment is not right for the tiger?
    To Jeff McClellan, the owner makes money by abusing this tiger. U make nothing. Why are u supporting this?
    Are u retarded or something?

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are always welcome.

Featured Post

i hate cats

i hate cats, no i hate f**k**g cats is what some people say when they dislike cats. But they nearly always don't explain why. It appe...

Popular posts