June 9, 2011 5:03 pm ET
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
Credits: Big Cat Rescue
Tony’s life this year probably isn’t much different from his life last year, given that he has spent most of his existence as a roadside attraction in an enclosure at a Louisiana gas station on I-10. But due to a judge’s recent decision to spring the embattled “truck stop tiger” on a couple of technicalities, next year the life of the 550-pound Siberian-Bengal might be quite different.
Or it might not, depending on how the upcoming rounds of legal tussling over Tony turn out.
Background
In May a lawsuit filed by Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) against the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) resulted in State District Judge R. Michael Caldwell finding that once the Tiger Truck Stop’s current wildlife permit to keep ten-year-old Tony expires in December 2011, the agency should not renew it.
ALDF staff attorney Matthew Liebman said in an email interview with Animal Policy Examiner (APE) that Caldwell “based his decision on the fact that (a) Mr. Sandlin does not live at the Tiger Truck Stop, as required by the regulations, and (b) Mr. Sandlin does not legally own Tony: the Tiger Truck Stop does.”
“Today, the law was upheld in the state of Louisiana, which has explicit regulations designed to protect tigers like Tony,” ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells said in a media release in response to the ruling. “It is an incredible victory for ALDF, the tens of thousands around the world who have supported this campaign, and most of all, for Tony. We eagerly look forward to the day that he leaves behind the noise and fumes of the Tiger Truck Stop for a new life of freedom that he has never known.”
Hearing next week
Despite their victory, ALDF was not entirely satisfied with the judge’s decision, given that he refused to revoke the truck stop’s current permit to keep Tony.
Tiger Truck Stop owner Michael Sandlin wasn’t happy either.
Thus, two new motions now stand before the court.
In one motion set for a hearing on June 14, the Animal Legal Defense fund asks “for a mandatory injunction that would require the Department to revoke the permit immediately,” said Liebman.
In another motion, Tiger Truck Stop owner Michael Sandlin has “filed a petition to intervene in the case, which, if granted, would make him a party to the action,” and is requesting a new trial, according to Liebman.
Sandlin told APE in a phone interview, “I have filed a petition of intervention and basically that petition says that my civil rights were violated, that these two entities [ALDF and LDWF] went to court, and without my participation or without my being allowed to present evidence or an argument of any kind, decided what to do with my property. And we’re requesting a new hearing. If he [the judge] rules against our petition, we’re prepared to file an appeal and take it to a higher court. So the fight is far from over.”
(APE’s full interview with Sandlin will be posted soon.)
Meanwhile, in the middle of the ring there’s the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, whose press secretary Bo Boehringer said in answer to many of APE’s questions about the legal wrangle, “The department intends to comply with the judge’s ruling.”
UPDATE: According to ALDF staff attorney Liebman, Judge Caldwell has denied Sandlin's petition to intervene, and Sandlin is attempting to appeal the decision.
Also according to Liebman, "The hearing [on the issue of removing Tony from the truck stop sooner than December] is still on calendar for next Tuesday, but the state [Department of Wildlife and FIsheries] has asked for a continuance, which would delay the hearing indefinitely. We filed an opposition to the continuance today [June 9]. We probably won’t know until Monday or even Tuesday whether the hearing will take place as scheduled; it all depends on whether the judge grants the continuance."
Read APE’s full interview with LDWF spokesman Boehringer: Public input favors revocation of truck stop’s permit to keep tiger, says Louisiana spokesman
http://www.examiner.com/animal-policy-in-national/new-tussle-over-tony-the-truck-stop-tiger
Or it might not, depending on how the upcoming rounds of legal tussling over Tony turn out.
Background
In May a lawsuit filed by Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) against the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) resulted in State District Judge R. Michael Caldwell finding that once the Tiger Truck Stop’s current wildlife permit to keep ten-year-old Tony expires in December 2011, the agency should not renew it.
ALDF staff attorney Matthew Liebman said in an email interview with Animal Policy Examiner (APE) that Caldwell “based his decision on the fact that (a) Mr. Sandlin does not live at the Tiger Truck Stop, as required by the regulations, and (b) Mr. Sandlin does not legally own Tony: the Tiger Truck Stop does.”
“Today, the law was upheld in the state of Louisiana, which has explicit regulations designed to protect tigers like Tony,” ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells said in a media release in response to the ruling. “It is an incredible victory for ALDF, the tens of thousands around the world who have supported this campaign, and most of all, for Tony. We eagerly look forward to the day that he leaves behind the noise and fumes of the Tiger Truck Stop for a new life of freedom that he has never known.”
Hearing next week
Despite their victory, ALDF was not entirely satisfied with the judge’s decision, given that he refused to revoke the truck stop’s current permit to keep Tony.
Tiger Truck Stop owner Michael Sandlin wasn’t happy either.
Thus, two new motions now stand before the court.
In one motion set for a hearing on June 14, the Animal Legal Defense fund asks “for a mandatory injunction that would require the Department to revoke the permit immediately,” said Liebman.
In another motion, Tiger Truck Stop owner Michael Sandlin has “filed a petition to intervene in the case, which, if granted, would make him a party to the action,” and is requesting a new trial, according to Liebman.
Sandlin told APE in a phone interview, “I have filed a petition of intervention and basically that petition says that my civil rights were violated, that these two entities [ALDF and LDWF] went to court, and without my participation or without my being allowed to present evidence or an argument of any kind, decided what to do with my property. And we’re requesting a new hearing. If he [the judge] rules against our petition, we’re prepared to file an appeal and take it to a higher court. So the fight is far from over.”
(APE’s full interview with Sandlin will be posted soon.)
Meanwhile, in the middle of the ring there’s the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, whose press secretary Bo Boehringer said in answer to many of APE’s questions about the legal wrangle, “The department intends to comply with the judge’s ruling.”
UPDATE: According to ALDF staff attorney Liebman, Judge Caldwell has denied Sandlin's petition to intervene, and Sandlin is attempting to appeal the decision.
Also according to Liebman, "The hearing [on the issue of removing Tony from the truck stop sooner than December] is still on calendar for next Tuesday, but the state [Department of Wildlife and FIsheries] has asked for a continuance, which would delay the hearing indefinitely. We filed an opposition to the continuance today [June 9]. We probably won’t know until Monday or even Tuesday whether the hearing will take place as scheduled; it all depends on whether the judge grants the continuance."
Read APE’s full interview with LDWF spokesman Boehringer: Public input favors revocation of truck stop’s permit to keep tiger, says Louisiana spokesman
http://www.examiner.com/animal-policy-in-national/new-tussle-over-tony-the-truck-stop-tiger
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