Animal Legal Defense Fund : Leonardo Speaks Out For Tony: "We Need to Act Now"

Posted by Lisa Franzetta, ALDF's Director of Communications on April 29th, 2011

Award-winning actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio is the latest high-profile supporter to join the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s campaign to free Tony the tiger, who has spent the last decade at Louisiana’s Tiger Truck Stop.

Yesterday, Leo wrote to his 1.5 million Facebook supporters:

Have you heard about Tony, a Siberian-Bengal tiger living at a truck stop in Louisiana? This tiger has been living in a small inadequate and inhumane enclosure alone since 2003. We need to help the Animal Legal Defense Fund in urging the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to revoke the permit that allows this. http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5154/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6207

The star of Titanic, The Aviator, and Inception also reached out to his hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, tweeting

On May 5, ALDF will square off against the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in East Baton Rouge District Court over the legality of a permit that allows Tony, a ten-year old Siberian-Bengal tiger, to be confined as a roadside exhibit at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La. ALDF is arguing that the Department violated state law in granting the permit to Tony’s owner, Michael Sandlin. Sign the petition to help free Tony today! And stay tuned all next week for updates on Tony’s case!

http://aldf.org/article.php?id=1695